What does an elegant tern look like?

What does an elegant tern look like?

Breeding adults are pale gray above, white with pink bloom below (often hard to see). They have a shaggy black crest, orange bill, dark gray outer primaries, and dark legs. Nonbreeding adults have white foreheads and lack the rosy tint below. Juveniles are grayer and more patterned above, with a gray crown.

Where do elegant terns migrate?

Elegant Terns migrate north and south along the coast in late summer and early fall after the breeding season. Birds that dispersed northward head south again in October. Their winter range extends as far south as Peru and Chile.

How many elegant terns are there?

Over 90% of all elegant terns nest in a single colony. There only five known colonies exist, three on the southern California coasts and two in northeastern Mexico.Aug 6, 2021

Why is the elegant tern endangered?

Considered vulnerable because nesting is restricted to very few sites. Coast, bays, beaches. Generally on ocean, close to shore over shallow waters, concentrating around bays and estuaries.

Why is the common tern endangered?

Common Terns are affected by a diversity of threats in the Great Lakes region. ... Habitat loss is caused by competition with Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis) for nest habitat and annual variation in amount of available habitat based on fluctuating Great Lakes water levels.Jan 2, 2020

How many elegant terns are there?

Over 90% of all elegant terns nest in a single colony. There only five known colonies exist, three on the southern California coasts and two in northeastern Mexico.Aug 6, 2021

Why is the Caspian tern endangered?

The concentration of terns on East Sand Island results in consumption of a large number of federally protected salmon and steelhead and makes the birds vulnerable to large losses due to storms, predators, human disturbance and disease.

Why is the least tern endangered?

Before the species was protected as endangered in 1985, the number of interior least terns had plummeted below 2,000 birds due to changes to river systems from dams, dikes, reservoirs and water diversions, which eliminated most of their historic nesting habitat.Jan 12, 2021

Where do elegant terns live?

Habitat. Elegant Terns nest only on two islands in the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez), Isla Montague and Isla Rasa, Mexico; and on a few isolated beaches in California.

Where do elegant terns migrate?

Elegant Terns migrate north and south along the coast in late summer and early fall after the breeding season. Birds that dispersed northward head south again in October. Their winter range extends as far south as Peru and Chile.

What habitat do Terns live in?

The common tern breeds along coasts with shingle beaches and rocky islands, on rivers with shingle bars, and at inland gravel pits and reservoirs, feeding along rivers and over freshwater. Migrating birds can be seen offshore in autumn.

How many elegant terns are there?

Over 90% of all elegant terns nest in a single colony. There only five known colonies exist, three on the southern California coasts and two in northeastern Mexico.Aug 6, 2021

Why is the elegant tern endangered?

Considered vulnerable because nesting is restricted to very few sites. Coast, bays, beaches. Generally on ocean, close to shore over shallow waters, concentrating around bays and estuaries.