All species › Waders, gulls and terns › Skimmers, noddies, terns and gulls › Elegant Tern
Elegant Tern | Thalasseus elegans
Sierlijke stern | Charrán elegante | Trinta-réis-elegante
The Elegant Tern is a medium-sized crested tern with a long, thin, slightly drooping, orange-yellow bill and a long, shaggy crest. Almost the entire world population breeds on a handful of islands in the Gulf of California, with Isla Rasa as the main colony. After breeding a large part moves south and winters along the Pacific coast of Ecuador, Peru and Chile.
Voice
A rasping, high kee-rek or kirreek, higher and less harsh than the call of Royal Tern.
Recording: Paul Marvin — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
39–43 cm, a slender tern with long, narrow wings, a forked tail and black legs. The bill is long, thin, slightly drooping and orange to orange-yellow, often with a paler tip. In breeding plumage a black cap with a long crest projecting well beyond the hindcrown; the underparts then sometimes show a pink flush. The upperparts are pale grey. In non-breeding plumage the forehead is white, with black feathering around and behind the eye merging into the crest. The sexes are alike. Juveniles have dark spotting on the upperparts and a yellower, shorter bill.
Confusion species
Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus is larger and heavier, with a thicker, straighter orange bill and, in non-breeding plumage, more white around the eye. Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis has a black bill with a yellow tip; yellow-billed birds of the Caribbean form do not occur on the Pacific coast. Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia is much larger, with a thick red bill and dark undersides to the primaries.
Habitat
Sandy beaches, bays, estuaries, harbours and the cool inshore waters of the Humboldt Current; it roosts in flocks on beaches, sandbars and jetties, often with Royal Terns, gulls and skimmers. It fishes by diving from flight and eats mainly anchovies and sardines. It does not breed in the guide area.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia a scarce winter visitor to the Pacific coast. In Ecuador a winter visitor along the whole coast. In Peru a common winter visitor along the whole coast. Rare on the Galápagos. Absent from Bolivia. Breeds on the coasts of Baja California and the Gulf of California and in small numbers in southern California; winters from Mexico to central Chile.
- Resident
- Winter visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
From August to April search flocks of roosting terns on the beaches and in the bay of Paracas, on the beaches near Lima and on the north coast of Peru, or at Salinas (Ecuador). In a flock of Royal Terns, compare the length and shape of the bill.
Conservation status
Near Threatened. Because almost the entire world population breeds on a few islands, the species is vulnerable to disturbance, introduced predators and poor years with little food, such as during El Niño; overfishing of sardines and anchovies is also a threat.
Scientific name
Thalasseus elegans | (Gambel, 1849)
Gambel described the species in 1849 as Sterna elegans; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Thalasseus was introduced in 1822 by Boie. The genus name comes from Greek thalassa, 'sea'; thalasseus means 'seaman' or 'fisherman'. The specific name comes from Latin elegans, 'refined, choice'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico.