Breeding grownup Least Terns have distinctive black heads with a white patch and pointy payments, wings and tails (with are forked).
They appear just like Sandwich terns, however are smaller.
They’ve black hoods, white foreheads, yellow payments, pale grey backs and wings, white underparts, and yellow legs. Some have black recommendations on their yellow payments. In flight, they’ve a black edge on their outer feathers.
Nonbreeding grownup Least Terns have much less pronounced black hoods. They’re extra smudgy and mottled. Their payments are darkish.
Juveniles have smudgy brown crowns, a black eyeline extending from the attention to the nape, black payments, and scale-patterned on their backs and wings. Their legs are yellow-orange.
- Sternula antillarum
- Size: 8.3 – 9.1 in (21 – 23 cm)
- Weight: 1.3 – 1.9 oz (36 – 54 g)
- Wingspan: 18.9 – 20.9 in (48 – 53 cm)
Vary
Least Terns breed alongside the Atlantic Coast of the US, the Midwest and Central America.
Habitat And Weight loss plan
You will discover Least Terns alongside sandy seashores, barrier islands, seacoasts, bays, estuaries, lagoons, lakes, and rivers. They favor nesting on sandy and shelly seashores, however may nest on flat gravel rooftops, agricultural fields, and airports.
Least Terns virtually at all times eat small fish. They hunt over shallow water and dive into the water to catch shrimp, tadpoles, flying bugs, and small fish.
Grownup Least Terns typically need to fly lengthy distances to ship small fish to their younger.
Least Tern Calls:
Nests
Nests of Least Terns are normally shallow scrapes that each adults make however the feminine makes the ultimate alternative. Nests are sometimes well-drained, regardless of being on sandy floor, with shells, pebbles, and different vegetation added to them.
The feminine lays one to a few eggs with an incubation interval of 19 to 25 days. Each mother and father take turns within the incubation of the eggs.
Enjoyable Truth:
Least Terns are the world’s smallest terns, weighing solely as a lot as a mockingbird.
