Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern, adult; breeding plumage; Florida; May

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Sandwich Tern, non-breeding adult (Def. Basic). Florida, November

Sandwich Tern, non-breeding adult. Florida.

Sandwich Tern, breeding adult in threat display (aggressive upright). Florida.

Sandwich Tern, adult; breeding plumage; Florida; May

Menu

1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A bird of marine coasts of the southeastern United States and the Caribbean, the Sandwich Tern is readily identified by its shaggy crest and yellow-tipped black bill.

Cool Facts

• The two subspecies of Sandwich Tern breeding in North America and Eurasia have black bills with yellow tips. A third subspecies known at the "Cayenne Tern" is found in the southern Caribbean and the Atlantic Coast of South America. It has an all yellow bill.

Description

• Size: 34-45 cm (13-18 in)
• Wingspan: 84-90 cm (33-35 in)
• Weight: 180-300 g (6.35-10.59 ounces)

Medium-sized tern. Long, thin black bill with pale yellow tip. Body white. Back pale gray. Elongated feathers on back of head make a slight shaggy crest. Black cap when breeding. Pale forehead in winter. Legs black.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Juvenile similar to nonbreeding adult, but with dark markings on back, crown entirely dusky, and bill may lack yellow tip.

Similar Species

• Royal Tern larger and more stocky, with orange bill.
• Gull-billed Tern more stocky, and with stout all-black bill.
• Elegant Tern similar in shape, but has orange-red bill.

Sound

A grating "kirr-ick."

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Breeds along coast from Virginia to Texas. Also in Caribbean, Atlantic Coast of South America, Europe, and central Asia.

Winter Range

Winters from Gulf Coast southward to South America. Also along coasts of Africa.

Habitat

Seacoasts, bays, estuaries, and mudflats, occasionally ocean far from land.

Food

Small fish. Some invertebrates.

Behavior

Foraging

Flies over water with bill pointing down; plunges into water to catch fish.

Reproduction

Condition at Hatching

Downy, eyes open, able to walk but stays in nest.

Conservation Status

Major declines noted in Old and New World during nineteenth century, due mostly to millinery trade and egg collecting. Recent increases in population size noted in most of range.

Other Names

Sterne caugek (French)
Charrán de sandwich, Charrán patinegro, Charrán de Cabot, Gaviota de pico amarillo, Gaviota pico agudo, Gaviota piquiaguda, Golondrina-marina de Sandwich. (Spanish)
Cabot's Tern (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

Shealer, D. 1999. Sandwich Tern (Sterna sandvicensis). In The Birds of North America, No. 405 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.