Elegant Tern

The Elegant Tern, Thalasseus elegans, is a medium-large tern with a graceful profile. It is characterized by its long, slender orange bill, pale grey upperparts, and white underparts. Its legs are a stark black, adding contrast to its delicate form.

Identification Tips

When identifying the Elegant Tern, look for its slender orange bill and the pale grey coloration of its back and wings. The underparts are white, and the legs are black. In winter, the forehead becomes white, distinguishing it from breeding plumage. Juvenile birds can be recognized by a scalier pale grey back. The Elegant Tern's call is a loud grating noise, similar to that of a Sandwich Tern.

Habitat

The Elegant Tern breeds on coasts and islands, and occasionally inland on large freshwater lakes near the coast. It prefers very dense colonies for nesting.

Distribution

This species is found along the Pacific coasts of the southern United States and Mexico. It migrates southward to winter in Peru, Ecuador, and Chile.

Behaviour

The Elegant Tern is not particularly aggressive towards predators, relying instead on the density of its nesting colonies and proximity to more aggressive species for protection. It feeds by plunge-diving for fish from the sea, typically diving directly without the "stepped-hover" of some other tern species. Courtship involves the male offering fish to the female.

Song & Calls

The Elegant Tern's vocalization is a distinctive loud grating sound, akin to that of the Sandwich Tern.

Breeding

Breeding occurs in dense colonies where the Elegant Tern nests in ground scrapes, laying one or two eggs. The colonies are often so dense that nests may be only 20-30 cm apart.

Similar Species

The Elegant Tern can be confused with the Royal Tern or Forster's Tern. However, the Royal Tern is larger with a thicker bill and shows more white on the forehead in winter. The Elegant Tern is marginally paler above than the Lesser Crested Tern, with a white rump and a longer, more slender bill.

Diet and Feeding

The Elegant Tern feeds almost exclusively by plunge-diving for fish in the sea.

Conservation status

The IUCN Red List classifies the Elegant Tern as Near Threatened. Disturbances such as drone crashes can have catastrophic effects on nesting colonies, as evidenced by an incident in 2021 where thousands of Elegant Terns abandoned their nests at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.