Animal Profiles
Birds

Elegant Tern

Thalasseus elegans

Living

Living individuals or members of this group exist today. This does not mean they are safe from extinction.

The elegant tern is a slender coastal seabird with a long orange bill and shaggy dark crest. It searches above the sea before diving for schooling fish.

Thalasseus elegans (elegant tern)

velodrome · CC BY

At a glance

Habitat
Coast
Diet
Piscivore
Food
Small schooling fish.

Classification

Common name
Elegant Tern
Browse group
Birds
Scientific name or taxon
Thalasseus elegans
Taxon rank
species
Order
Charadriiformes
Family
Laridae
Genus
Thalasseus
Source classification
Aves

Taxonomy checked against GBIF. For breeds and hybrids, this describes the listed parent taxon.

Three things to know

  • Its long bill is yellow-orange.
  • It plunge-dives for small fish.
  • Breeding birds gather in coastal colonies.

Habitat and range

Elegant terns breed around southern California and northwestern Mexico and range south along the Pacific coast outside the breeding season. Beaches, islands, estuaries and mudflats provide nesting and resting places.

Appearance and adaptations

Pale grey upperparts contrast with a largely white body. The long yellow-orange bill, forked tail and crest help distinguish it from similar terns.

Diet and behaviour

Anchovies and other small schooling fish are caught by hovering and plunge-diving. Birds congregate at colonies and communal resting places, often beside other seabirds. Open coastal sites are central to their life cycle.

Sources

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