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All About Birds

Elegant Tern

Overview
ID Info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Elegant Tern Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Calls
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California, November 03, 2008Recorded by Benjamin Clock | Macaulay Library
Calls
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California, October 27, 2020Recorded by Andrew Spencer | Macaulay Library
Calls
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California, April 09, 2015Recorded by Paul Marvin | Macaulay Library
Calls
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California, April 07, 2015Recorded by Paul Marvin | Macaulay Library
Calls
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Ica, July 05, 1982Recorded by Ted Parker | Macaulay Library
Juvenile calls
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California, October 27, 2020Recorded by Andrew Spencer | Macaulay Library

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Calls

The most commonly heard call is a sharp, grating karr-eek similar to the call of a Royal Tern but shorter and higher in pitch. Breeding birds give lower-pitched gak and kut calls, usually when disturbed by other terns or by predators.

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Species in This Family

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers(Order: Charadriiformes, Family:Laridae)

Black-legged Kittiwake

Bonaparte's Gull

Black-headed Gull

Franklin's Gull

Heermann's Gull

Ring-billed Gull

California Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Gull-billed Tern

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