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Common Tern

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                   iCommon Tern

                             Conservation status

   Least Concern (LC)
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Charadriiformes
   Family:  Sternidae
   Genus:   Sterna
   Species: S. hirundo

                                Binomial name

   Sterna hirundo
   Linnaeus, 1758

   The Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) is a seabird of the tern family
   Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution breeding in
   temperate and sub-arctic regions of Europe, Asia and east and central
   North America. It is strongly migratory, wintering in the subtropical
   and tropical oceans. It is sometimes known as the sea swallow.

   This is a medium-sized tern, 34-37 cm long with a 70-80 cm wingspan. It
   is most readily confused within its range with the similar Arctic Tern
   Sterna paradisaea and Roseate Tern Sterna dougalli.

   Its thin sharp bill is red with a dark tip. Its longish legs are also
   red. Its upperwings show a dark primary wedge, unlike Arctic, in which
   they are uniformly grey. Its long tail extends only to the wingtips on
   the standing bird, unlike Arctic and Roseate Terns, which extend past
   the wingtips. It is not as pale as Roseate Tern, and has longer wings.

   In winter, the forehead and underparts are white. Juvenile Common Terns
   show extensive ginger coloration and lack the scaly appearance of
   juvenile Roseate Terns.

   The call is a clear piping, like Arctic Tern but lower pitched and less
   strident.

   This species breeds in colonies on coasts and islands and often inland
   on suitable freshwater lakes. This latter practice is assisted by the
   provision of floating "tern rafts" to give a safe breeding area. It
   lays two to four eggs. Like many white terns, it is very defensive of
   its nest and young and will attack humans and other large predators,
   but unlike the more aggressive Arctic Tern rarely hits the intruder,
   usually swerving off at the last moment.

   Like all Sterna terns, the Common Tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish,
   from either the sea or freshwater lakes and large rivers. It usually
   dives directly, and not from the "stepped-hover" favoured by Arctic
   Tern. The offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the
   courtship display. Common terns are known to reach an age of 23 years
   or more on occasion (Austin, 1953).

   The old Scottish word for the Common Tern is pictar, occasionally
   encountered in Scotland and the Maritime Provinces of Canada.

   The Common Tern is one of the species to which the Agreement on the
   Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds ( AEWA) applies.

   Common Tern Preying

                      Missing a catch

                                     Successful catch
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Tern"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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