H.J. Ruiz – Avian101

The photographs I’m displaying today for this post were taken in the west coast of Florida.

Royal Tern

The Royal Tern has a red-orange bill and a black cap on the top of its head during the breeding season, but in the winter the cap becomes patchy. The Royal Tern is found in Europe, Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean islands. The Royal Tern lives on the coast and is only found where there is salt water, they do not live where there is fresh water.

The Royal Tern typically feeds in small secluded bodies of water such as estuaries, mangroves, and lagoons. Also, but less frequently, the Royal Terns will hunt for fish in open water, typically within about 100 yards off the shore.

In the Americas the Royal Terns on the east coast, during the breeding season(April–July), occur in the US north to Virginia, occasionally drifting north to Maryland. The southern end of their breeding range is Texas. The wintering range for on the east coast is from North Carolina south to Panama and the Guianas, also the Caribbean islands. On the western coast of the Americas the Royal Tern spends the breeding season from the US state of California to Mexico, wintering from California south to Peru.

Click on images to see enlargements

Text and photographs © H.J. Ruiz – Avian 101