Royal Tern

Royal Tern, breeding plumage

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Royal Tern, nonbreeding plumage

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A large, orange-billed tern, the Royal Tern is found only along ocean beaches.

Description

• Large tern.
• Slender orange bill (from yellow to reddish).
• Short, forked tail.
• Black in a narrow, shaggy band around back of head; forehead white. (Complete black cap held only briefly during breeding.)
• Mostly white all over, with some dark in wingtips.

• Size: 45-50 cm (18-20 in)
• Wingspan: 125-135 cm (49-53 in)
• Weight: 350-450 g (12.36-15.89 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Sound

Call a loud, rolling "keer-reet."

Conservation Status

United States population appears stable.

Other Names

Sterne royale (French)
Charrán real, Gaviota real, Gaviotin real, Golondrina-marina real, Golondrina Tirra canalera, Pagaza real (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The Royal Tern makes its nest scrape on the ground on low-lying islands. The pair defecates directly on the nest rim, perhaps to reinforce the nest against flooding. After a few weeks, the nest rim hardens.
• Young Royal Terns leave the nest scrape within one day after hatching and congregate together in a group known as a crèche. Eventually all of the chicks in a colony come to the crèche, which can have thousands of chicks ranging in age from two to 35 days old. A pair of Royal Terns will feed only their own chick, and manage to find it in the crowd, probably by recognizing its call.

Sources used to construct this page:

Buckley, P. A., and F. G. Buckley. 2002. Royal Tern (Sterna maxima). In The Birds of North America, No. 700 (A. Poole and F. Gill,eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.