COMMON TERN GALLERY
(Sterna hirundo)

eBird gives this description of the Common Tern:  Medium-sized tern found on open ocean, beaches, and large lakes. Adults have pale gray body and black cap. Bill color differs by subspecies: most have red bill with black tip, but some Asian birds have all-black bills. First-years show dark outer primaries, dark shoulder, and black restricted to back of neck. Similar to Forster’s, Arctic, and Roseate Terns. Separated from breeding Forster’s Tern by entirely gray upperwings; nonbreeding Forster’s shows black ear patch. Somewhat longer-billed and shorter-tailed than Arctic Tern, with paler body. Shorter-tailed and overall darker than gleaming white Roseate Tern. Often found in large flocks, especially in late summer. Gives a harsh screeching call “KEEE-yurrrr.”

I saw a small number of Common Tern at Shoveler Pond on the afternoon of May 21, 2020.  Later that day, at the far west end of Bolivar Flats, I saw quite a few Common Tern mixed in with a large mixed group that was mainly Brown Pelicans. 

Common Tern at Shoveler Pond (Anahuac NWR) on May 21, 2020.
Common Tern at Bolivar Flats, May 21, 2020.
Common Tern with Brown Pelicans at Bolivar Flats, May 21, 2020.

Cool Facts About the Common Tern at All About Birds…

      • The Common Tern drinks on the wing, dipping its bill in the water with its wings held up. They can drink saltwater or freshwater—like many seabirds, they have nasal glands that excrete excess salt.
      • Common Terns made an unfortunate appearance in women’s fashion in the late 19th century. Feathers and sometimes entire terns were mounted on women’s hats resulting in the near extirpation of terns from the Atlantic Coast. Thankfully their populations rebounded by the 1930s after passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918.
      • Just like adding sandbags to prevent your home from flooding, Common Terns quickly add vegetation, bones, shell fragments, and anything else they can collect to raise their nest if it is threatened by high water.
      • The oldest recorded Common Tern was at least 25 years, 1 month old, when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in New York.