Black Tern Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesBlack Tern
Breeding adult
Small tern with fairly broad wings; flies with light, buoyant wingbeats. Breeding adults have very distinctive pattern of black head and body with dark gray wings.
© Ian K Barker / Macaulay LibraryOntario, May 23, 2017Breeding adult
Small tern with slender bill and dark gray wings. Breeding adults have black head, breast, and belly.
© Santiago Caballero Carrera / Macaulay LibraryAndalucía, April 21, 2016Breeding adult
Black head and underparts make this graceful tern easy to identify in breeding plumage. Note also the dark gray back and wings—darker than almost all other terns and distinctive in all plumages.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryNorth Dakota, June 13, 1997Not all videos have sound
Nonbreeding adult
Small tern with dark gray wings. Nonbreeding adults have a dark ear spot on a mostly white head.
© Joshua Vandermeulen / Macaulay LibraryOntario, August 14, 2016Molting adult
When molting, can show a messy, mottled pattern of black and white.
© Bruce Cochrane / Macaulay LibraryFlorida, July 25, 2017Juvenile
Juveniles have dark gray-brown back and wings with faint paler bars. Head and underparts are white with black skullcap and ear mark.
© Carlos Echeverría / Macaulay LibraryPetén, August 23, 2019Molting adult
Small tern with dark gray wings. Molting birds can be a mixture of black and white on the head and underparts.
© Luke Seitz / Macaulay LibraryMaine, July 10, 2011Juvenile
Small tern with shallow fork in tail. Juveniles have brownish tinges to back feathers, marked with pale barring. Note black skullcap and ear mark.
© Luke Seitz / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, August 21, 2017Habitat
Breeds in inland freshwater marshes; migrates cross-country and over open ocean to wintering grounds. During migration may be found in flocks with other terns.
© Liliana Chavarria Duriaux / Macaulay LibraryGranada, September 20, 2015Similar SpeciesLeast Tern
Breeding adult
Least Terns are smaller than Black Terns with paler back and wings. Least has a very slender yellow bill unlike Black Tern's black bill. Breeding Least Terns have a fully black cap with white forehead, whereas nonbreeding Black Tern has a small black cap surrounded by white and a dark ear spot.
© Jonathan Eckerson / Macaulay LibraryRhode Island, August 02, 2015Similar SpeciesLeast Tern
Immature
Immature Least Terns are smaller and paler than Black Terns, which have dark gray-brown back and wings.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, August 06, 2016Similar SpeciesForster's Tern
Nonbreeding adult
Forster's Terns are larger and paler gray above than Black Terns, with more slender wings and a deeply forked tail. Nonbreeding Forster's has a distinct black ear patch but lacks nonbreeding Black Tern's small black cap.
© Alex Lamoreaux / Macaulay LibraryFlorida, February 15, 2017Similar SpeciesCommon Tern
Nonbreeding adult
Common Terns are larger and paler gray above than Black Terns. Nonbreeding Common has more extensive black on the head than nonbreeding Black Tern.
© Brendan Klick / Macaulay LibraryMichigan, September 09, 2017Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
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Species in This Family
Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers(Order: Charadriiformes, Family: Laridae)
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