Terns

Florida has several different species of terns including gull-billed,

sooty, caspian, royal, sandwich, roseate, least, common, arctic,  bridled, forester’s, and black.

 

All Florida terns are adorned with black and white feathers. 

They are in the same taxonomic family, Laridae, as gulls.

 

Fish is the main food for terns.  Some terns will also eat squid, insects, fiddler crabs, shrimp, bird eggs, and crustaceans when they are available.

The characteristic feeding behavior of most terns is to fly over water in search of food items at or near the surface. Sometimes they stop and hover to get a

better look and then tuck their wings back and dive into the water to catch the prey with their bill.

 

Terns typically nest in open areas with sparse, short vegetation. Their nests consist of shallow depressions in the sand or eggs are merely laid on the surface of more solid substrates such as rocks, crushed shells, or gravel.

 

Because of the limited availability of suitable, undisturbed, natural nesting habitat, some terns have resorted to nesting on human-made structures such as rooftops and spoil islands.

 

Credits:

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

 

  1. _DSC7686
  2. _DSC7891
  3. _DSC7916
  4. _DSC7921
  5. _DSC7924
  6. _DSC7925
  7. _DSC7927
  8. _DSC7928
  9. _DSC7929
  10. _DSC7930
  11. _DSC8040_1
  12. _DSC8230
  13. _DSC8234
  14. _DSC8235_1
  15. _DSC8236
  16. _DSC8237
  17. _DSC8239
  18. _DSC8240
  19. _DSC8242
  20. _DSC8243
  21. _DSC8253_1
  22. _DSC8256
  23. _DSC8259
  24. _DSC8262
  25. _DSC8263
  26. _DSC8264
  27. _DSC8267
  28. _DSC8272
  29. _DSC8273
  30. _DSC8274
  31. _DSC8275
  32. _DSC8276
  33. _DSC8277
  34. _DSC8278
  35. _DSC8279
  36. _DSC8280
  37. _DSC8280_1
  38. _DSC8281
  39. _DSC8285
  40. _DSC8287
  41. _DSC8288
  42. _DSC8290_1
  43. _DSC8293
  44. _DSC8299
  45. _DSC8300
  46. _DSC8301
  47. _DSC8306
  48. _DSC8307
  49. _DSC8308
  50. _DSC8312
  51. _DSC8314
  52. _DSC8315
  53. _DSC8351
  54. _DSC8352
  55. _DSC8360