Sandwich Tern Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Calls (Cabot's)
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Florida, August 17, 1983Recorded by Oliver H. Hewitt / Macaulay Library
Calls (Cabot's)
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Texas, March 25, 2008Recorded by Nathan Pieplow
Calls (Cabot's)
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May 22, 2008Recorded by Jessie Barry
Calls (Cayenne)
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Santa Cruz, January 10, 2001Recorded by Santiago Imberti / Macaulay Library
Calls (Eurasian)
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England, July 10, 2012Recorded by Patrick Franke / Macaulay Library
Juvenile calls (Eurasian)
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Cataluña, July 02, 2018Recorded by Jay McGowan / 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 kirrrik similar to the Elegant Tern's call but shorter. Breeding birds give lower-pitched krit and kek calls, usually when courting or when disturbed by other terns or by predators. Begging juveniles make a high-pitched, squeaky pee-up or peep call, and females begging from males during courtship give a similar quee-quee-quee.

Compare with Similar Species

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Elegant Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Royal Tern

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Species in This Family

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

Little Gull

Ross's Gull

Black-legged Kittiwake

American Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Glaucous Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Browse Species in This Family

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