Antarctic Terns
Backyard Habitat: Attracting Wildlife to Your Garden ... Bird Feeding Stations ... Nesting Habits of Wild Birds and Build-Your-Own Nesting Boxes ... Wild Bird Houses / Nests (Fancy & Practical) .... Water Fountains ... Bird Baths ...... Books, Videos, CDs & DVDs
The Antarctic Tern (Sterna vittata) is a typical tern. It ranges throughout the southern oceans. It is very similar in appearance to the closely related Arctic Tern. The main difference is the fact that it is in breeding plumage in the southern summer, and that the wingtips are grey instead of blackish in flight.
Breeding takes place from mid-November to early December. Chicks hatch from December to February. Skuas and Jaegers are the primary predators of this bird.
The total global population of this bird is around 140000 individuals.
Appearance
The antarctic tern is a pretty small bird at 12-15 inches long.It's bill is usually a darkish color but can sometimes be red.T his bird is white with a black spot on its forehead.The tips of this terns wings are also a greyish black.
The plumage of juveniles is white on the belly, foreneck, forehead, and breast.The back is gray and the bill is black.Immature birds have feathers simillar to adult terns.
Copyright: Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia.org
Relevant Web Resources: ProjectPuffin (Photos, Info, Sound & Video files) ... USGS
If you would like to add to or correct any of the above information, or would like to share with the AvianWeb visitors your own experiences, please e-mail the AvianWeb Webmaster.
Photo contributions and articles are welcome!








