A medium-sized tern with distinctive black bill with yellow tip.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
The Sandwich tern is a tern in the family Laridae. It is very closely related to the lesser crested tern, Chinese crested tern, Cabot's tern, and elegant tern and has been known to interbreed with both elegant and lesser crested terns. It breeds in the Palearctic from Europe to the Caspian Sea, and winters in the Mediterranean and on the coasts of Africa, India, and Sri Lanka.
Source: Wikipedia — Sandwich tern Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Medium-pale tern with a slim black bill tipped pale yellow (as if dipped in mustard), a shaggy black crest, and pale gray wings. White forehead for most of the year.
Similar species. Other terns have differently colored bills; the black bill with a yellow tip is diagnostic. Smaller and paler-billed than Royal Tern.
Voice. A grating, sharp 'kerr-ick' or 'ki-rick'.
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Small fish caught by plunge-diving or surface-snatching.
Behavior. A slender coastal tern that plunge-dives for small fish; often nests among Royal Terns. Named for the town of Sandwich, England.
§ Range
Atlantic and Gulf coasts
§ Habitat
Coastal beaches
§ Threats
Coastal habitat loss.
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the sandwich tern is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Support coastal conservation.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — Sandwich tern
- www.allaboutbirds.org — authoritative profile of Thalasseus sandvicensis
- IUCN Red List — search for Thalasseus sandvicensis
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Thalasseus sandvicensis
§ Sources cited
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology — All About Birds
- National Audubon Society
- iNaturalist
- IUCN Red List
