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GALLERIES > BIRDS > CHARADRIIFORMES > LARIDAE > LEAST TERN [Sternula antillarum]


Least Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Ballona Freshwater Marsh, CA
GPS: 34.0N, -118.4W, elev=5' MAP
Date: July 26, 2008
ID : 7C2V6253 [3888 x 2592]

Least Tern Image @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Ballona Freshwater Marsh, CA
GPS: 34.0N, -118.4W, elev=5' MAP
Date: July 26, 2008
ID : 7C2V6251 [3888 x 2592]

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Least Tern Picture @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Bryan Beach, TX
GPS: 28.9N, -95.4W, elev=0' MAP
Date: August 30, 2009
ID : 7C2V3519 [3888 x 2592]

Least Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Bolivar Flats, TX
GPS: 29.4N, -94.7W, elev=1' MAP
Date: August 28, 2009
ID : 7C2V2344 [3888 x 2592]

bird photography

Least Tern Image @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington Beach (Bolsa Chica Lagoon), CA
GPS: 33.7N, -118.1W, elev=27' MAP
Date: August 8, 2009
ID : 7C2V1310 [3888 x 2592]

Least Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington Beach (Bolsa Chica Lagoon), CA
GPS: 33.7N, -118.1W, elev=27' MAP
Date: August 8, 2009
ID : 7C2V1330 [3888 x 2592]

bird photography

Least Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington Beach (Bolsa Chica Lagoon), CA
GPS: 33.7N, -118.1W, elev=27' MAP
Date: August 8, 2009
ID : 7C2V1328 [3888 x 2592]

Least Tern Image @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Ballona Freshwater Marsh, CA
GPS: 34.0N, -118.4W, elev=5' MAP
Date: July 26, 2008
ID : 7C2V6172 [3888 x 2592]

bird photography

Least Tern Image @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Ballona Freshwater Marsh, CA
GPS: 34.0N, -118.4W, elev=5' MAP
Date: July 26, 2008
ID : 7C2V6186 [3888 x 2592]

Least Tern Picture @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Ballona Freshwater Marsh, CA
GPS: 34.0N, -118.4W, elev=5' MAP
Date: July 26, 2008
ID : 7C2V6195 [3888 x 2592]

nature photography

Least Tern Image @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Ballona Freshwater Marsh, CA
GPS: 34.0N, -118.4W, elev=5' MAP
Date: July 26, 2008
ID : 7C2V6203 [3888 x 2592]

Least Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Ballona Freshwater Marsh, CA
GPS: 34.0N, -118.4W, elev=5' MAP
Date: July 26, 2008
ID : 7C2V6220 [3888 x 2592]

nature photography

Least Tern Image @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Ballona Freshwater Marsh, CA
GPS: 34.0N, -118.4W, elev=5' MAP
Date: July 26, 2008
ID : 7C2V6236 [3888 x 2592]

Least Tern Image @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Ballona Freshwater Marsh, CA
GPS: 34.0N, -118.4W, elev=5' MAP
Date: July 26, 2008
ID : 7C2V6238 [3888 x 2592]

nature photography

Least Tern Image @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Ballona Freshwater Marsh, CA
GPS: 34.0N, -118.4W, elev=5' MAP
Date: July 26, 2008
ID : 7C2V6263 [3888 x 2592]

Least Tern Picture @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Ballona Freshwater Marsh, CA
GPS: 34.0N, -118.4W, elev=5' MAP
Date: July 26, 2008
ID : 7C2V6291 [3888 x 2592]

nature photography

Least Tern Image @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington State Beach, CA
GPS: 33.6N, -118.0W, elev=1' MAP
Date: June 1, 2008
ID : 7C2V4439 [3888 x 2592]

Least Tern (with chick)
 
 
Location: Huntington State Beach, CA
GPS: 33.6N, -118.0W, elev=1' MAP
Date: June 1, 2008
ID : 7C2V4462 [3888 x 2592]

nature photography

Least Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington State Beach, CA
GPS: 33.6N, -118.0W, elev=1' MAP
Date: June 1, 2008
ID : 7C2V4357 [3888 x 2592]

Least Tern Image @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington State Beach, CA
GPS: 33.6N, -118.0W, elev=1' MAP
Date: June 1, 2008
ID : 7C2V4384 [3888 x 2592]

bird photography

Least Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington State Beach, CA
GPS: 33.6N, -118.0W, elev=1' MAP
Date: June 1, 2008
ID : 7C2V4475 [3888 x 2592]

Least Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington State Beach, CA
GPS: 33.6N, -118.0W, elev=1' MAP
Date: June 1, 2008
ID : 7C2V4483 [3888 x 2592]

bird photography

Least Tern Picture @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington State Beach, CA
GPS: 33.6N, -118.0W, elev=1' MAP
Date: June 1, 2008
ID : 7C2V4397 [3888 x 2592]

Least Tern Photo @ Kiwifoto.com
 
 
Location: Huntington State Beach, CA
GPS: 33.6N, -118.0W, elev=1' MAP
Date: June 1, 2008
ID : 7C2V4433 [3888 x 2592]

nature photography

SPECIES INFO

The Least Tern (Sternula antillarum, formerly Sterna antillarum) is a species of tern that breeds in North America and locally in northern South America. It is closely related to, and was formerly often considered conspecific with, the Little Tern S. albifrons of the Old World. Other close relatives include the Yellow-billed Tern S. superciliaris and Peruvian Tern S. lorata, both from South America.

It is a small tern, 22-24 cm long, with a wingspan of 50 cm, and weighing 39-52 g. The upper parts are a fairly uniform pale gray, and the underparts white. The head is white, with a black cap and line through the eye to the base of the bill, and a small white forehead patch above the bill; in winter, the white forehead is more extensive, with a smaller and less sharply defined black cap. The bill is yellow with a small black tip in summer, all blackish in winter. The legs are yellowish. The wings are mostly pale gray, but with conspicuous black markings on their outermost primaries. In behavior, it flies over water with fast, jerky wingbeats and a distinctive hunchback appearance, with the bill pointing slightly downward.

It is migratory, wintering in Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. It has occurred as a vagrant to Europe, with one record in Great Britain.

It differs from Little Tern mainly in that its rump and tail are gray, not white, and it has a different, more squeaking call; from Yellow-billed Tern in being paler gray above and the bill having a short (not no) black tip; and from Peruvian Tern in being paler gray above and white (not pale gray) below and a shorter black tip to the bill.




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least_tern's Range Map Click here to see the Least Tern's range map!
Listen to the Least Tern Song:



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