Common Tern Photo Gallery
Breeding adult (hirundo/tibetana)
Medium-sized tern with deeply forked tail. Breeding adults have a gray belly, full black cap, and reddish bill. The upper side of the outer primaries is dark gray, creating a dark wingtip.
© Michiel Oversteegen / Macaulay LibraryAruba, July 28, 2019Breeding adult (hirundo/tibetana)
Medium-sized tern with a slender, straight bill. Tail is about the same length as the folded wings. Breeding adults usually have a grayish chest and bright red, black-tipped bill and red legs.
© Gale VerHague / Macaulay LibraryNew York, July 16, 2019Adult and juveniles
Breeding adults have a neat black cap and red bill with black tip. In this image, note the long crossed wingtips (above) about the same length as the forked tail (below). Nests in the open on beaches.
© Benjamin Clock / Macaulay LibraryMaine, July 18, 2012Not all videos have soundNonbreeding adult (hirundo/tibetana)
Nonbreeding adults lose the front portion of their black cap, showing a white forehead and black hindcrown. Legs and bill turn blackish as winter progresses. Note tail does not extend beyond wingtips at rest.
© S. K. Jones / Macaulay LibraryFlorida, August 30, 2017Immature (hirundo/tibetana)
Immatures and nonbreeding adults have a distinctive black bar on the leading edge of the wing, known as a carpal bar. Tail does not extend beyond wingtips.
© Jody Wells / Macaulay LibraryBritish Columbia, September 25, 2017Juvenile (hirundo/tibetana)
Juveniles have a faint brownish wash to the back and a partial black cap that extends to the crown. They also have a dark leading edge to the wing, or carpal bar.
© Linda Ankerstjerne Olsen / Macaulay LibraryConnecticut, July 29, 2018Nonbreeding adult (hirundo/tibetana)
Flies with wingtips swept back with rowing wingbeats. Nonbreeding adults have a white forehead and black on the crown and behind the eye, with blackish bill. Note the black wedge on the upper side of the wingtips.
© Brendan Klick / Macaulay LibraryMichigan, September 09, 2017Breeding adult (hirundo/tibetana)
Medium-sized tern with deeply forked tail. Outer primaries form a dark wedge on the upper side of the wingtips. Wings are slender, swept back, and narrow at the base.
© Doug Hitchcox / Macaulay LibraryMaine, July 12, 2017Habitat
Occurs along shorelines, barrier islands, and estuaries, as well as on large inland lakes. In coastal areas, typically less numerous in brackish areas than along the ocean shore.
© Keith Lowe / Macaulay LibraryNova Scotia, July 13, 2017Compare with Similar Species
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Species in This Family
Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers(Order: Charadriiformes, Family: Laridae)
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