Slender tern with a long black bill with a pale tip.
Slender tern with a long black bill with a pale tip, although pale tip can be difficult to see. It is the only shaggy crested tern with a black bill.
Nonbreeding birds are very pale gray above with only a partial black crown. The bill is black with pale tip.
Juveniles have a mottled black-and-gray back and a dark rear crown patch. The bill is orangish, but quickly turns dark.
A medium-sized, slender tern with long, thin, sharp bill and long, pointed wings. The tail is medium length with a shallow fork. Adults during the breeding season have a shaggy crest that gives a ragged look to the back of the head.
Larger than a Common Tern, smaller than a Royal Tern.
crow-sizedOrnithologists recognize three subspecies of Sandwich Tern: acuflavidus of the Americas, the similar sandvicensis of Eurasia and Africa, and the yellow- or orange-billed eurygnathus, which nests from Puerto Rico to Argentina. Some ornithologists define these as full species, called Cabot’s Tern, Sandwich Tern, and Cayenne Tern, respectively.
Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers(Order: Charadriiformes, Family: Laridae)
Need Bird ID Help? Try Merlin
The Cornell Lab will send you updates about birds,
birding, and opportunities to help bird conservation.
