H.J. Ruiz – Avian101

Royal Tern – Spec. Name: Thalasseus maximus,

This is a seabird in the tern family Sternidae. This bird has two distinctive subspecies. T. m. maximus breeds on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the southern USA and Mexico into the Caribbean. The slightly smaller T. m. albididorsalisbreeds in coastal west Africa.

Royal Tern

This is a large tern, second only to Caspian Tern but is unlikely to be confused with the carrot-billed giant, which has extensive dark underwing patches. The Royal Tern has an orange-red bill, pale grey upperparts and white underparts. Its legs are black. In winter, the black cap becomes patchy. Juvenile Royal Terns are similar to non breeding adults. Differences include juveniles having black sploched wings and a yellower bill. An adult Royal Tern has an average wingspan of 130 cm, for both sexes, but their wingspan can range from 125–135 cm. The Royal Tern’s length ranges from 45–50 cm. and their average weight is anywhere from 350-450 grams.

The calls of the Royal Tern are usually short, clear shrills. Some of the shrills sound like kree or tsirr; the Royal Tern also has a more plover like whistle that is longer, rolling and is more melodious.

In various parts of its range, the Royal Tern could be confused with Elegant Tern, Lesser Crested Tern (the other orange-billed terns), and the Great Crested Tern. It is paler above than Lesser Crested Tern and the yellow-billed Great Crested Tern. Elegant Tern has a longer more curved bill and shows more white on the forehead in winter.

American birds migrate south to Peru and Argentina for the winter to escape the cold weather. African breeders move both north and south from the breeding colonies. African birds may reach as far north as Spain. This species has also wandered to western Europe as a rare vagrant, these records probably being from the American colonies.

The appearance of apparent Elegant Terns in European waters means that records of Royal and Elegant Terns will need to be re-evaluated, since the latter species was thought an improbable migrant to the area.

The Royal Tern usually feeds on small fish like anchovies, weakfish, silversides, and croakers. Fish are the main source of food for the Royal Tern but they also been found eating insects and shrimps.

The Royal Tern feeds by diving into the water from heights near 30 feet. The Royal Tern is an opportunist that feeds when it finds schools of fish or small crustaceans.

The Royal tern is one of the species that the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies to. The AEWA covers 255 species that depend on the wetlands for any part of there life. The AEWA covers birds from 64 countries that are in Africa and Eurasia. There are little other conservation efforts because the Royal Tern’s status of least concern. The reason there is little concern for the extinction of the Royal Tern is that the species has not experienced a significant enough decrease in population to become threatened or endangered.

 All Photographs are © H.J. Ruiz – Avian 101

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