Birds › Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
Elegant Tern
Thalasseus elegans
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.
Easily confused with
Royal TernThalasseus maximus
Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
Common TernSterna hirundo
Forster's TernSterna forsteri
Least TernSternula antillarum
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
South American TernSterna hirundinacea
Great Crested TernThalasseus bergii
Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.
Where it is recorded
| United States | 199,313 |
|---|---|
| California | 6,677 |
| Oregon | 1,146 |
| Arizona | 959 |
| Washington | 769 |
| Mexico | 339 |
| Alaska | 276 |
| Texas | 247 |
| Canada | 194 |
| Peru | 186 |
Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.
Traits
Group and habits
- 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 | Crested Terns · Thalasseus |
Study it in a deck
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 Elegant Tern with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.