Tern
{{Taxobox
color = pink | name = Terns | image = Smallarctern.jpg | image_width = 240px | image_caption = Arctic Tern | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Aves | ordo = Charadriiformes | subordo = Lari | familia = Sternidae | familia_authority = Bonaparte, 1838 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision =
Gelochelidon
Hydroprogne
Thalasseus
Sterna
Sternula
Onochyprion
Chlidonias
Phaetusa
Anous
Procelsterna
Gygis
LarosternaTerns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily Sterninae of the gull family Laridae. They are less closely related to the waders, auks and skimmers. They have a worldwide distribution.
Most terns were formerly treated as belonging to the large genus Sterna, with the other genera being small, though some authorities split the genus Sterna into several smaller genera (see list, below), a viewpoint which is acquiring increased recognition (HBW; Bridge et al. 2005; Collinson 2006).
Many terns breeding in temperate zones are long-distance migrants, and the Arctic Tern probably sees more daylight than any other creature, since it migrates from its northern breeding grounds to Antarctic waters. One Arctic Tern, ringed as a chick (not yet able to fly) on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast in eastern Britain in summer 1982, reached Melbourne, Australia in October 1982, a sea journey of over 22,000 km (14,000 miles) in just three months from fledging - an average of over 240 km per day, and one of the longest journeys ever recorded for a bird.
They are in general medium to large birds, typically with grey or white plumage, often with black markings on the head. They have longish bills and webbed feet. They are lighter bodied and more streamlined than gulls, and look elegant in flight with long tails and long narrow wings. Terns in the genus Sterna have deeply forked tails, those in Chlidonias and Larosterna shallowly forked tails, while the noddies (genera Anous, Procelsterna, Gygis) have unusual 'notched wedge' shaped tails, the longest tail feathers being the middle-outer, not the central nor the outermost.
Most terns (Sterna and the noddies) hunt fish by diving, often hovering first, but the marsh terns (Chlidonias) pick insects of the surface of fresh water. Terns only glide infrequently; a few species, notably Sooty Tern, will soar high above the sea. Apart from bathing, they only rarely swim, despite having webbed feet.
Terns are generally long-lived birds, with several species now known to live in excess of 25-30 years.*Genus Gelochelidon - Gull-billed Tern
** Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica
*Genus Hydroprogne - Caspian Tern.
** Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
*Genus Thalasseus - crested terns.
** Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus
** Greater Crested Tern or Swift Tern, Thalasseus bergii
** Chinese Crested Tern Thalasseus bernsteini
** Elegant Tern Thalasseus elegans
** Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis
** Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis
*Genus Sterna - typical white terns
** River Tern Sterna aurantia
** Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii
** White-fronted Tern Sterna striata
** Black-naped Tern Sterna sumatrana
** South American Tern Sterna hirundinacea
** Common Tern Sterna hirundo
** Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea
** Antarctic Tern Sterna vittata
** Kerguelen Tern Sterna virgata
** Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
** Trudeau's Tern Sterna trudeaui
** White-cheeked Tern Sterna repressa
** Black-bellied Tern Sterna acuticauda
** Black-fronted Tern Sterna albostriata
*Genus Sternula - little tern group.
** Little Tern Sternula albifrons
** Saunders' Tern Sternula saundersi (Often considered conspecific with Little Tern)
** Least Tern Sternula antillarum (Often considered conspecific with Little Tern)
** Yellow-billed Tern Sternula superciliaris
** Peruvian Tern Sternula lorata
** Fairy Tern Sternula nereis
** Damara Tern Sternula balaenarum
*Genus Onychoprion - "brown-backed" terns.
** Aleutian Tern Onychoprion aleutica
** Grey-backed Tern Onychoprion lunata
** Bridled Tern Onychoprion anaethetus
** Sooty Tern Onychoprion fuscata
*Chlidonias - marsh terns.
** Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybridus
** White-winged Tern or White-winged Black Tern Chlidonias leucopterus
** Black Tern Chlidonias niger
*Phaetusa - Large-billed Tern.
** Large-billed Tern Phaetusa simplex
*Anous, Procelsterna, Gygis - noddies. A tropical group, characterised by the notch-wedge shaped (not forked) tail; coastal and pelagic oceanic.
** Brown Noddy Anous stolidus
** Black Noddy Anous minutus
** Lesser Noddy Anous tenuirostris
** Blue Noddy Procelsterna cerulea
** Grey Noddy Procelsterna albivitta
** White Tern Gygis alba
*Larosterna - Inca Tern.
** Inca Tern Larosterna inca*Bridge, E. S., Jones, A. W., & Baker, A. J. (2005). A phylogenetic framework for the terns (Sternini) inferred from mtDNA sequences: implications for taxonomy and plumage evolution. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35: 459â€"469. Available online (pdf file).
*Collinson, M. (2006). Splitting headaches? Recent taxonomic changes affecting the British and Western Palaearctic lists. British Birds 99 (6): 306-323.
*Tern videos on the Internet Bird Collection
*"Tern! Tern! Tern!" Song parody
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