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Terns are generally long-lived birds, with individuals typically returning for 7–10 breeding seasons. Maximum known ages include 34 for an Arctic tern and 32 for a sooty. Although several other species are known to live in captivity for up to 20 years, their greatest recorded ages are underestimates because the birds can outlive their rings ...
He placed it with the other terns in the genus Sterna and coined the binomial name Sterna simplex. [2] Gmelin based his description on the "simple tern" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds from a specimen that had been collected in Cayenne , French Guiana . [ 3 ]
Arctic terns are medium-sized birds. They have a length of 28–39 cm (11–15 in) and a wingspan of 65–75 cm (26–30 in). [ 3 ] They are mainly grey and white plumaged, with a red/orange beak and feet, white forehead, a black nape and crown (streaked white), and white cheeks.
Adult royal tern and Cabot's tern (smaller bird, right) in flight at Core Banks, North Carolina. All white underparts Rodanthe, North Carolina. This is a large tern, second only to the Caspian tern but is unlikely to be confused with this "carrot-billed" giant, which has extensive dark underwing patches.
The Inca tern is roughly 39 to 42 cm (15 to 17 in) long and weighs between 180 to 210 g (6.3 to 7.4 oz). Its plumage is uniquely colorful, among terns; adults have a mostly dark, slate-gray body, with a paler throat and underwing coverts. A white stripe extends back from the base of the bill and fans-out as long, satiny feathers along the side ...
The adults have very long, flexible tail streamers and orange-red legs. In summer, the underparts of adults take on the pinkish tinge which gives this bird its name. In winter, the forehead becomes white and the bill black. Juvenile roseate terns have a scaly appearance like juvenile Sandwich Terns, but a fuller black cap than that species.
Sterna striata in flight with tiny fish in its beak. The white-fronted tern is an average-sized tern; its dimensions are 35–43 cm (14–17 in) in length, with a wingspan between 79 and 82 cm (31 and 32 in); the male weighs on average 130 g (4.6 oz). [3]
In mixed colonies, common terns will tolerate somewhat longer ground vegetation than Arctic terns, but avoid the even taller growth acceptable to roseate terns; the relevant factor here is the different leg lengths of the three species. [59] Common terns adapt readily to artificial floating rafts, and may even nest on flat factory roofs. [58]