Sandwich Tern

The Sandwich Tern is a slim, medium-large tern readily distinguished from other terns by its bill: long, thin, and black with a neat yellow tip, as though dipped in paint. Adults have a shaggy black crest, pale gray upperparts, white underparts, and black legs.

As with several crested terns, the forehead whitens outside the core breeding period, leaving a black cap restricted to the crown and a ragged crest trailing behind the head. In flight, the wingtips show a pale, frosty appearance similar to some other crested terns.

The species takes its English name from Sandwich, a coastal town in Kent, England, where it was first scientifically described; in the Americas it is sometimes referred to by the name Cabot's Tern, reflecting a formerly recognized subspecies or, by some authorities, a separate species.

Key field marks

• Long, slender black bill with a distinct yellow tip
• Shaggy black crest
• Black legs
• Pale gray upperparts, white underparts

Similar species

• Royal Tern: larger with an entirely orange bill lacking a yellow tip.
• Elegant Tern: longer, more slender, drooping orange-yellow bill without the sharply demarcated yellow tip.
• Common Tern: much smaller with a red-orange (not black) bill.

Habitat

A coastal species nesting on sandy or shingle beaches and islands, foraging over nearshore and offshore waters.

Range and migration

Breeds along the Atlantic coast of the Americas, coasts of Europe, and parts of Africa and western Asia. Northern populations are strongly migratory, wintering along warmer coasts of the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, and Africa.

Behavior

Sandwich Terns are highly colonial, often nesting in dense association with other terns, and forage by making steep plunge-dives into the water from a hovering position.

Voice

Gives a distinctive, grating, rolled "kir-rick" or "kear-ick" call, often the first clue to its presence at a distance.

Feeding

Feeds mainly on small fish, caught by plunge-diving, along with some marine invertebrates.

Nesting and breeding

Nests in dense colonies on open, sparsely vegetated sand or shingle, often intermixed with other tern species. Clutches typically contain one to two eggs, incubated by both parents for roughly three to four weeks.