ILLUSTRATION
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PHOTOS
CONSERVATION STATUS
UK Conservation Status
European Conservation Status
Conservation Description
The Roseate Tern is a rare summer resident in some coastal areas of Ireland, Wales, eastern England, and southern Scotland. It has a "Red" status because of historic declines and small, localised populations.
IBIRD EXPLORER GENERAL
System.Xml.XmlException: The 'link' start tag on line 114 position 2 does not match the end tag of 'head'. Line 122, position 4.
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at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(String res, String[] args)
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at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseElementContent()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Read()
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadNode(Boolean skipOverWhitespace)
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadDocSequence(XmlDocument parentDoc)
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.Load(XmlDocument doc, XmlReader reader, Boolean preserveWhitespace)
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.Load(XmlReader reader)
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.LoadXml(String xml)
at MWG.RSS.RSSChannel.GetChannel(String Url) in C:\Users\rick\Documents\projects\MWG\SkinnedWebClient\MWG.Controls\RSSChannel.cs:line 85
at MWG.Controls.RSSWebControl.Render(HtmlTextWriter output) in C:\Users\rick\Documents\projects\MWG\SkinnedWebClient\MWG.Controls\RSSWebControl.cs:line 102
PHOTO SHARING AND DISCUSSION
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at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(Exception e)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(String res, String[] args)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ThrowTagMismatch(NodeData startTag)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseEndElement()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseElementContent()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Read()
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadNode(Boolean skipOverWhitespace)
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadDocSequence(XmlDocument parentDoc)
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.Load(XmlDocument doc, XmlReader reader, Boolean preserveWhitespace)
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.Load(XmlReader reader)
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.LoadXml(String xml)
at MWG.RSS.RSSChannel.GetChannel(String Url) in C:\Users\rick\Documents\projects\MWG\SkinnedWebClient\MWG.Controls\RSSChannel.cs:line 85
at MWG.Controls.RSSWebControl.Render(HtmlTextWriter output) in C:\Users\rick\Documents\projects\MWG\SkinnedWebClient\MWG.Controls\RSSWebControl.cs:line 102
BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY
System.Xml.XmlException: The 'link' start tag on line 114 position 2 does not match the end tag of 'head'. Line 122, position 4.
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(Exception e)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(String res, String[] args)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ThrowTagMismatch(NodeData startTag)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseEndElement()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseElementContent()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Read()
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadNode(Boolean skipOverWhitespace)
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadDocSequence(XmlDocument parentDoc)
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.Load(XmlDocument doc, XmlReader reader, Boolean preserveWhitespace)
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.Load(XmlReader reader)
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.LoadXml(String xml)
at MWG.RSS.RSSChannel.GetChannel(String Url) in C:\Users\rick\Documents\projects\MWG\SkinnedWebClient\MWG.Controls\RSSChannel.cs:line 85
at MWG.Controls.RSSWebControl.Render(HtmlTextWriter output) in C:\Users\rick\Documents\projects\MWG\SkinnedWebClient\MWG.Controls\RSSWebControl.cs:line 102
SUMMARY
Overview
Roseate Tern: Small, pale waterbird with a black cap and pointed black bill with a red base. Back and wings pale grey and white with dark grey and black on leading edge of primaries. Underparts white with pale pink coloration on breast. Long, forked tail white. Orange legs and feet. Elegant flight.
Range and Habitat
Roseate Tern: Rare summer breeder in the UK & Ireland. Birds can be seen from late spring through summer. Breeding grounds are found in a few colonies on the east coasts of England and Scotland, coastal Wales, and in Ireland. Birds spend the winter at sea.
SONGS AND CALLS
Jean Roche Sound
Roseate Tern 1
- Recordist: Jean Roche
- Title: Roseate Tern 1
- Description: Shrill "chew" calls.
- Location: uk
- Date: "February 7, 2011"
Roseate Tern 2
- Recordist: Jean Roche
- Title: Roseate Tern 2
- Description: Various calls.
- Location: uk
- Date: "February 7, 2011"
Roseate Tern 3
- Recordist: Jean Roche
- Title: Roseate Tern 3
- Description: Loud "aack" alarm call.
- Location: uk
- Date: "February 7, 2011"
Voice Text
"chi-wee", "keer", "zra-ap", "zhrrraaaaach"
INTERESTING FACTS
- The Roseate Tern is less defensive of its nest and young than other terns. It often relies on Arctic and Common Terns in the surrounding colony for defense.
- Breeding colonies in the Caribbean are vulnerable to egg collectors, who seek the eggs of this species because of supposed aphrodisiac properties.
- It sometimes steals fish from other seabirds. This increases their food collecting ability during bad weather when fish swim deeper, out of reach of the terns, but still within reach of the deeper-diving Puffins.
- A group of terns are collectively known as a "U" or a "ternery" of terns.
RELATED BIRDS
RANGE MAP
FAMILY DESCRIPTION
Terns (Sternidae)
ORDER
The nineteen families in the taxonomic order CHARADRIIFORMES (pronounced kah-RAH-dree-ih-FOR-meez) include waterbirds such as oystercatchers, avocets, gulls, and terns.
FAMILY TAXONOMY
Distributed worldwide (including the polar regions), the family Sternidae (pronounced STURN-uh-dee) encompasses forty-four species of terns in nine genera (IOC World Bird List, version 2.3). It should be noted that terns were, until recently, included in the same family as gulls (the Laridae).
EUROPE
In Europe twenty-two species of Sternidae in eight genera have occurred. Members of this bird family include the “marsh terns" of the Chlidonias genus (Black, White-winged Black, and Whiskered Terns), and the Arctic Tern.
KNOWN FOR
Members of the Sternidae are known for their elegant appearance, graceful flight, and association with aquatic habitats.
PHYSICAL
Terns are web-footed birds with long, rather slim wings. Most species have thin, dagger-like bills (Gull-billed and Caspian Terns being notable exceptions), and notched or forked tails. They range in size from that of a Starling (the Little Tern) to a bit larger than a Common Gull (the Caspian Tern).
COLORATION
Adult terns are mostly pale-coloured birds plumaged in grey and white with black on the crown and in the wingtips. Marsh terns and noddies are generally darker in coloration. Other colours are limited to red and yellow (in the bills and feet) and rose-coloured hues in the plumage of the Roseate Tern.
GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT
The Sternidae occur near fresh and salt water throughout Europe but are most common near large bodies of water.
MIGRATION
European tern species are highly migratory and for the most part spend the winter in subtropical and tropical coasts and waterways of Africa.
HABITS
The Sternidae are social, rather vocal birds that nest in colonies in marshes, on isolated beaches, and rocky islets. Most species forage for small fish by diving into the water although some terns will also hawk insects from the air during flight.
CONSERVATION
Several tern species have declined due to disturbance at their nesting colonies, pollution of waterways, and destruction of their marsh, riverine, and coastal habitats. Populations of the Little Tern (and the related Least Tern of North America) have been especially hard hit by these factors and have thus become species of conservation concern in many areas.
INTERESTING FACTS
The Arctic Tern migrates more than twenty thousand miles each year on a round trip journey between the Arctic and Antarctic. Some populations of this species actually do a circle of the Atlantic by flying to northern Europe, heading south along the African coast to Antarctica and then following the American coastlines north.
TERMINOLOGY
CREDITS
Author
Artist
David Wenzel
HELP ME IDENTIFY A BIRD
System.Xml.XmlException: The 'link' start tag on line 114 position 2 does not match the end tag of 'head'. Line 122, position 4.
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(Exception e)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(String res, String[] args)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ThrowTagMismatch(NodeData startTag)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseEndElement()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseElementContent()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Read()
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadNode(Boolean skipOverWhitespace)
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadDocSequence(XmlDocument parentDoc)
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.Load(XmlDocument doc, XmlReader reader, Boolean preserveWhitespace)
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.Load(XmlReader reader)
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.LoadXml(String xml)
at MWG.RSS.RSSChannel.GetChannel(String Url) in C:\Users\rick\Documents\projects\MWG\SkinnedWebClient\MWG.Controls\RSSChannel.cs:line 85
at MWG.Controls.RSSWebControl.Render(HtmlTextWriter output) in C:\Users\rick\Documents\projects\MWG\SkinnedWebClient\MWG.Controls\RSSWebControl.cs:line 102
BACKYARD BIRDING
System.Xml.XmlException: The 'link' start tag on line 114 position 2 does not match the end tag of 'head'. Line 122, position 4.
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(Exception e)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(String res, String[] args)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ThrowTagMismatch(NodeData startTag)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseEndElement()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseElementContent()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Read()
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadNode(Boolean skipOverWhitespace)
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadDocSequence(XmlDocument parentDoc)
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.Load(XmlDocument doc, XmlReader reader, Boolean preserveWhitespace)
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.Load(XmlReader reader)
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.LoadXml(String xml)
at MWG.RSS.RSSChannel.GetChannel(String Url) in C:\Users\rick\Documents\projects\MWG\SkinnedWebClient\MWG.Controls\RSSChannel.cs:line 85
at MWG.Controls.RSSWebControl.Render(HtmlTextWriter output) in C:\Users\rick\Documents\projects\MWG\SkinnedWebClient\MWG.Controls\RSSWebControl.cs:line 102
BIRDS AND BIRDING
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at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(Exception e)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(String res, String[] args)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ThrowTagMismatch(NodeData startTag)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseEndElement()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseElementContent()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Read()
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadNode(Boolean skipOverWhitespace)
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.LoadDocSequence(XmlDocument parentDoc)
at System.Xml.XmlLoader.Load(XmlDocument doc, XmlReader reader, Boolean preserveWhitespace)
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.Load(XmlReader reader)
at System.Xml.XmlDocument.LoadXml(String xml)
at MWG.RSS.RSSChannel.GetChannel(String Url) in C:\Users\rick\Documents\projects\MWG\SkinnedWebClient\MWG.Controls\RSSChannel.cs:line 85
at MWG.Controls.RSSWebControl.Render(HtmlTextWriter output) in C:\Users\rick\Documents\projects\MWG\SkinnedWebClient\MWG.Controls\RSSWebControl.cs:line 102
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