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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Royal Tern

Royal Tern: Large tern, pale gray upperparts; white face, neck, and underparts. Head has spiky, black crest and cap, and heavy, bright orange bill. Wings are black-tipped above and black-edged below; tail is deeply forked. Legs and feet are black. Hovers before plunge diving for prey.

● Song: "kee-rare"

● Foraging & Feeding: Royal Tern: Feeds on small fish and aquatic invertebrates, including crabs, squid, and shrimp. Plunge dives to capture prey; occasionally pirates fish from other birds, especially Brown Pelicans.

● Breeding & nesting: Royal Tern: One to four creamy buff to brown eggs with red brown markings are laid in a depression in sand or a cup of dead grass, usually built on a sandy or rocky island. Incubation ranges from 20 to 31 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Royal Tern: Elegant Tern is smaller, has a more slender red-orange bill that appears slightly drooped at tip, and longer shaggy crest that extends down nape. Caspian Tern has a thicker, red bill, dark wedge on outer portion of underwings, weaker forked tail, and near complete cap in winter and juvenile plumages.

Flight Pattern