Terns (Sternidae)

 

The Sternidae include 7-12 genera and 40-45 species of terns and noddies; sometimes they are placed in the Laridae, as a subfamily. Terns are distributed worldwide, including Antarctica, while the noodies are tropical. Many terns breeding in temperate zones are long-distance migrants. The sternids are slender birds with long bills, narrow wings, and long, forked tails. The majority have light gray upperparts, white underparts, and a black cap, but several species exhibit dark gray of brown plumage.

They inhabit coastal and marine habitats, but also wetlands, and nest on the ground in beaches, cliff ledges, floating vegetation, and in coastal scrub; often on remote islands. Terns breed in colonies numbering from few pairs to tens of thousands of pairs; sometimes alongside other seabirds. In many species, the nest is a mere scrape in the ground, although others built simple nests of twigs or aquatic vegetation, e.g., in wetlands, cliffs, shrubs or trees. The clutch consists of 1-3 eggs; incubation 21-28 days; the chicks are semi- precocial. Most terns feed by plunge-diving, taking fish and aquatic insects; others catch insects on the wing. Larger species also consume small crabs, crayfish, rodents, lizards, etc.

 

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