ILLUSTRATION
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PHOTOS
CONSERVATION STATUS
UK Conservation Status
European Conservation Status
Conservation Description
The Black Tern is a passage migrant in the UK, Isle of Man, and Ireland, most commonly in England. It occurs in a variety of wetland habitats and has a "Green" status because of its large, stable population.
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.
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
PHOTO SHARING AND DISCUSSION
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
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
Black Tern: A small waterbird that is black with silvery-grey wings, back, and tail, and a white vent. It has a rather short, sharp, pointed bill, and short, slightly forked tail. The long, pointed wings are used for rapid, graceful flight, as well as hovering over marshes.
Range and Habitat
Black Tern: Formerly a breeding resident, now a spring and autumn passage visitor to the UK and Ireland. European race summers in Europe and western Asian and winters on the west coast of Africa. This wetland tern is most often seen at lakes, reservoirs, coastal lagoons, and estuaries in England. The North American subspecies is a rare vagrant to the UK and Ireland.
SONGS AND CALLS
Jean Roche Sound
Black Tern 4
- Title: Black Tern 4
- Description: Flight calls
- Recordist: Jean Roche
- Date Imported: "February 7, 2011"
- Location: uk
Voice Text
"ka-sheek", "kik-kik-kik"
INTERESTING FACTS
- The Black Tern is very social. It breeds in loose colonies and usually forages, roosts,and migrates in flocks of a few to more than 100 birds, occasionally up to tens of thousands.
- The male performs a display flight where he carries a small fish or dragonfly in view of potential mates. A female that accepts the invitation follows him to a perch where he feeds her the prize.
- Unlike the "white" Sterna terns, they do not dive for fish. Instead, they forage picking up items near the water's surface or catching flying insects.
- 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
Yury Lisyak
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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