Birds › Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
Arctic Tern
Sterna paradisaea
28 photos
Study shows up to four per card, from different observers, so you learn the species rather than one picture. Heart the good ones and swap any you do not like.
Photos you add are credited to you, and you keep the copyright.
Sounds
- Recording by Doug Hynes (XC564600). CC-BY-SA · Source
Easily confused with
Common TernSterna hirundo
Antarctic TernSterna vittata
Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundus
South American TernSterna hirundinacea
Forster's TernSterna forsteri
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
Little TernSternula albifrons
Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.
Where it is recorded
| United States | 767,216 |
|---|---|
| Canada | 70,467 |
| California | 14,708 |
| British Columbia | 10,672 |
| Quebec | 7,221 |
| Ontario | 3,793 |
| Nova Scotia | 3,751 |
| Washington | 2,100 |
| Massachusetts | 1,959 |
| Alaska | 1,450 |
Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.
Traits
Group and habits
- Ground nestingListed by a harvested source as nesting on the ground.BIRDBASE avian traits database
- Scrape nestingListed by a harvested source as nesting in scrapes.BIRDBASE avian traits database
- Fish eaterListed by a harvested source as primarily eating fish.BIRDBASE avian traits database
Classification
| Kingdom | Animals · Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Chordates · Chordata |
| Class | Birds · Aves |
| Order | Shorebirds and Allies · Charadriiformes |
| Family | Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers · Laridae |
| Genus | Typical Terns · Sterna |
Study it in a deck
- Birds of British Columbia, Canada
- Birds of Ontario
- Birds of Pennsylvania (Alkas)
- Birds of Pennsylvania, United States
- Birds of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Birds of United States
- Birds of Utah
Or build your own from the species near you.
Sources
- Names, taxonomy and observation counts: www.inaturalist.org
- Photos and recordings: the creator and source are on each one.
- Traits: BIRDBASE avian traits database (CC BY 4.0)
- How much to rely on each source
Remember the name next time.
Practise Arctic Tern with real photos from different observers and its recordings. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.