Birds › Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
Black Tern
Chlidonias niger
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 Jonathon Jongsma (XC428429). CC-BY-SA · Source
Easily confused with
White-winged TernChlidonias leucopterus
Whiskered TernChlidonias hybrida
Common TernSterna hirundo
Least TernSternula antillarum
Laughing GullLeucophaeus atricilla
Forster's TernSterna forsteri
Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundus
Little GullHydrocoloeus minutus
Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.
Where it is recorded
| United States | 711,950 |
|---|---|
| Alaska | 249,981 |
| Canada | 216,938 |
| Ontario | 110,657 |
| Michigan | 55,006 |
| Texas | 54,200 |
| New York | 31,870 |
| Wisconsin | 29,279 |
| Minnesota | 25,987 |
| Quebec | 22,408 |
Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.
Traits
Group and habits
- Platform nestingListed by a harvested source as building platform nests.BIRDBASE avian traits database
- Bamboo nestingListed by a harvested source as nesting in bamboo.BIRDBASE avian traits database
- Water nestingListed by a harvested source as nesting on water.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 | Marsh Terns · Chlidonias |
Study it in a deck
- Birds of Bogota Capital District, Colombia
- Birds of British Columbia, Canada
- Birds of Ontario
- Birds of Pennsylvania (Alkas)
- Birds of Pennsylvania, United States
- Birds of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 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 Black 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.