Little Tern

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{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Little Tern | image = Leasttern54.jpg | image_caption = Least Tern (North American form) | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Aves | ordo = Charadriiformes | familia = Sternidae | genus = Sterna | species = S. albifrons | binomial = Sterna albifrons | binomial_authority = Pallas, 1764 }} The Little Tern (Sterna albifrons) is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. The North American race, S. a. antillarum, is sometimes considered a separate species, the Least Tern, Sterna antillarum.

This bird breeds on the coasts and inland waterways of temperate and tropical Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory, wintering in the subtropical and tropical oceans as far south as Peru and Brazil (Least Tern), South Africa and Australia. The American Least Tern has occurred as a vagrant to Europe in Great Britain.

The Little Tern breeds in colonies on gravel or shingle coasts and islands. It lays two to four eggs on the ground. Like all white terns, it is defensive of its nest and young and will attack intruders.

Like all Sterna terns, the Little Tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, usually from saline environments. The offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display.

This is a small tern, 21-25 cm long with a 41-47 cm wingspan. It is not likely to be confused with other species because of its size and white forehead in breeding plumage. Its thin sharp bill is yellow with a black tip and its legs are also yellow. In winter, the forehead is more extensively white, the bill is black and the legs duller. The call is a loud and distinctive creaking noise.

1 Least Tern
2 Little Tern on European rivers
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

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Least Tern

In the United States, the interior population of the Least Tern was listed as an endangered species in 1985, due to loss of habitat caused by dams, reservoirs, channelization, and other changes to river systems. The western population, the California Least Tern (S. a. brownii) was listed as an endangered species in 1972 with a population of about 600 pairs. With aggressive management, the Californian population has rebounded in recent years to over 4,500 pairs.

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Little Tern on European rivers

At the beginning of the 19th century the Little Tern was a common bird of European shores, rivers and wetlands, but in the 20th century populations of coastal areas decreased cause of habitat loss, pollution and human disturbance.

The loss of inland populations has been even more severe, since ue to dams, river regulation and sediment extraction it has lost most of its former habitats . The Little Tern population has declined or become extinct in many European countries, and former breeding places on large rivers like the Danube, Elbe and Rhine ceased. Nowadays, only few river systems in Europe possess suitable habitats: the Loire/Allier in France, the Vistula/Odra in Poland, the Po/Ticino in Italy, the Daugava in Latvia, the Nemunas in Lithuania, the Sava in Croatia and the Drava in Hungary and Croatia. The status of the Little Tern on the rivers Tagus and lower Danube is uncertain.

The Drava population is one of the most threatened. Old fashioned water management practices - river regulation, sediment extraction - endanger the remaining pairs. Only 15 pairs still breed on extensive sand or gravel banks along the border between Hungary and Croatia. The WWF and its partners are involved in working for the protection of this bird and this unique European river ecosystem.

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References

"National Geographic" Field Guide to the Birds of North America ISBN 0792268776
Seabirds by Harrison, ISBN 0-7470-8028-8
Terns of Europe and North America by Olsen and Larsson, ISBN 0-7136-4056-1

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