Roseate Tern

The Roseate Tern is a bird that is as lovely as its name. They are considered by some to be one of the most beautiful terns in the world because of their subtle, almost luminescent, rose-pink plumes during the breeding seasons. These birds are abundantly found in 6 of the continents around the world, with exception of Antarctica. In North America, their populations are most commonly found along the Atlantic Coast, where they can be found foraging out in the ocean and nesting in relatively secluded islands. It can be found swooping and diving for their prey as they forage.

About Roseate Terns

Roseate Terns are exceptionally rare birds and are generally not easily seen away from their breeding sites. Although they often gather in flocks after the breeding season, they tend to travel through more offbeat routes. Despite their secretive habitat preferences, their populations were critically endangered in the late 19th century and the early 20th century due to an increase in demand for their plumes. Although their numbers are relatively higher now, they continued to be endangered due to the more recent decline in their numbers.

Today, we want to shed some light on one of the most beautiful seabirds in the world. As you keep reading, you will gain an in-depth understanding of who these birds are, and what makes them so special. We will be discussing:

● Roseate Tern Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Roseate Tern Size, Eating Behavior, Habitat
● Roseate Tern Range and Migration, Nesting

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Roseate Tern Color Pattern

The gorgeous hues of the breeding plumage of these birds are where they derive their names from. Their breeding plumages are mostly a bright white with a dark black cap that extends to regions well below the nape. Roseate Tern’s wings and mantles are a pale gray, while the outer edges of their wings appear to be black. Their tails are streaked with long, white streamers. During the breeding seasons, their underparts are a radiant white that is suffused with a pale, creamy, rose pink. This pinkish flush remains during the nonbreeding seasons as well but is less vivid and quite difficult to see in sunlight. Their black cap is also replaced by a prominent black mask that extends from the back of their eye to their nape, with a white forehead and pale streaks that go down the back of their crown. The tails during the nonbreeding seasons are also significantly shorter. The bills are a vibrant orange and black, while their legs are orange as well.

Juveniles are heavily barred overall with black, brown, or a combination of both colors on their mantles. Their rump and back are a mottled brownish grey, while their bills are dark.

Description and Identification

Due to the elusive nature of these birds, they can be rather hard to find. However, if they are present in your surroundings then spotting them is relatively easy due to their unmistakable appearances. Keep your eye out for elegant, medium-sized seabirds with elegantly pointed wings that resemble those of an airplane. Their black crowns contrast with their white bodies, with their chests giving out a light pink sheen that is especially vibrant during their
breeding seasons. Occasionally, they can also be found nesting on rooftops found in many of the Florida Keys. In order to differentiate them from the related Common Terns, keep in mind that Roseate Terns are paler, slightly smaller, slimmer, and longer tailed.

Roseate Tern Song

Roseate Terns have a variety of calls that are distinct and used in different contexts. Their first call is a simple flight call that can be best rendered as a sharp keek. It is typically heard when these birds forage together in loose flocks or begin to ascend to higher altitudes when in flight. Studies also suspect that this call might be used in aggressive conflicts of low intensity.

Their second call is the advertising call, a disyllabic “chi-vik” or “ki-rik”. This call can vary in tone and volume depending on the context but is most frequently heard when birds return with fish for their mates or their young. This call may also become an excited “ki-RIK-chi-vik-chi-vik-chi-vik” when they are in flight at lower altitudes. Their third call is called the broody call, a crooning “kurr-kurr-kurr” that given when brooding small chicks or scraping with the mate.

They also have two types of alarm calls that are used in low-intensity and high-intensity situations. Their low-intensity alarm call is a musical, descending kliu notes which are generally heard only when an intruder approaches the nesting area from a distance. The same call can also sometimes be a louder “kyeep”. Their high-intensity alarm call is significantly different and is a harsher “aaach” or “kraak”, often having a raspy quality. This is given out when intruders are far closer to the nest than in the previous case. They may also begin “gakkering” and let out a guttural cackle that can be best rendered as “ke-KE-ke-keck-ke-KE-ke-keck” when they are warning intruders of rivals against a potential physical conflict.

The development of immature vocalizations is not fully understood, but nestlings begin to give out a begging call like “ki-ki-ki-ki-ki” around 2 days after they hatch. They begin to respond to their parent’s calls with a high-pitched “chi-vi” after a little more than a week, with their vocal ranges fully developing presumably by their second year.

Roseate Tern Size

Roseate Terns are medium-sized seabirds that are around 13-16.1 inches long. They have slender and delicate builds, making them weigh approximately 3.2-4.9 ounces. Their bills are straight, thin, and sharp-tipped, while their long and pointed wings have a wingspan of 26-30 inches. They have very long, forked tails that extend well beyond their wingtips when they are perched. Immatures hatch with very short tails, but the length gradually grows as they get older. If compared to other terns, they are similar in size to Common Terns.

Roseate Tern Behavior

Within their territories, these terns stand and walk to get to different areas. However, in the event of territorial intruders or predators approaching, they may run or fly at their opponents in an effort to ward them off. They also hop over logs and debris and frequently rest on rocks, posts, fence rails, and other elevated objects above the nesting area. In air, they are strong and fast fliers that take rapid and shallow beats with their wings. Like other seabirds, they are known for their intense plunge dives in order to capture prey. However, they tend to remain just below the surface and do not go any deeper even while foraging. In some cases, they may even pluck prey from the surface without diving.

Roseate Terns are also not as aggressive as many other Tern species, namely Common Terns. They generally do not directly strike intruders, nor do they employ directed defecation as a defensive mechanism. However, rival males are directly attacked on-air and on-ground as the birds charge towards them. Fights typically include chasing, fleeing, supplanting, and aggressive pecking at the heads, wings, or tail of the opponent. Adults are also aggressive to the chicks of neighboring nests, often attacking them at the site and carrying them far away from their territories. Occasionally, adults may even move away from their own nests to attack chicks at adjacent nests.

Roseate Terns perform elaborate courtship rituals during the breeding seasons, with males scouting for potential mates by flying around colonies while calling and showing a small fish in the bill. Interested females reciprocate by following the males or by simply watching. Eventually, the males land and present the females with the small fish, after which the pair initiates their courtship by flying upwards together at a height of as much as 1,000 feet
before beginning to glide together as they descend in synchrony. Males continue to feed their mates even after copulation until the eggs are laid. Though pairs appear to be monogamous, many colonies have more females than males. As a result, there are many female-female pairs that co-parent nests and incubate nests together. These pairs may stay together for as long as 5 years and defend chicks equally.

Roseate Tern Diet

Roseate Terns are mainly piscivores, meaning that their diet primarily consists of fish. Although they generally forage for fish from the surface of the water, they are also known to steal fish from other seabirds in the vicinity. Common prey includes American sand lance, bay anchovy, striped anchovy, Atlantic herring, dwarf herring, blueback herring, Atlantic menhaden, and round herring. They also eat Atlantic mackerel, Atlantic silversides, reef silversides, bluefish, pollock, butterfish, white hake, and four beard rockling. On rarer occasions, they eat squids, aquatic insects, and crustaceans like shrimps, prawns, euphausiids, and amphipods.

Roseate Tern Habitat

These Terns are seabirds and can thus be most frequently found along with coastal areas. They nest on sandy barrier islands, rocky islands, and occasionally on islands or hummocks in saltmarshes. Colonies in the northeast part of their range forage in areas like tidal rips, shoals, and sandbars. They tend to place their nests among rocks, shells, or vegetation in concealed spots among clumps of beach grass and other vegetation. During migration seasons, they travel well offshore often far from the visibility of land, and tend to stop at open beaches and coastal inlets for rest. Due to their preference for secluded regions during the nonbreeding seasons, their habitats are not too well-studied at the colder months of the year. Roosting typically occurs at ocean beaches, estuaries, and mouths of rivers.

Roseate Tern Lifecycle

Following courtship, females lay a brood of 1-2 eggs in a season, with both members of the pair incubating the eggs for approximately 21-26 days. Once the young hatch, they are fed by both parents and may eventually move from the nest to a better shelter a few days after hatching. They gain the ability to fly around 27-30 days but remain with their parents for at least 2 months.

Nesting

Nest sites are scouted for by both members of the pair at concealed spots in beaches, often close to their foraging sites. In some areas of the Florida Keys, sites can also be found on some flat gravel rooftops among groups of Least Terns. In the Caribbean, some birds nest on cliffs or ledges on limestone islets. Many conservationist groups also provide artificial nest boxes for these terns to nest in.

Nests themselves are simple scrapes in the ground that are unlined until incubation, after which bits of shell, rock, and vegetation are added after several weeks.

Anatomy of a Roseate Tern

Roseate Terns are medium-sized terns that have delicate builds. They have straight, thin bills and long, pointed wings. Their tails are long and forked, vital in aiding them in balance as they fly to great altitudes. Their sharp bills vary in color and may be orange or entirely black depending on the time of the year.

Final Thoughts

For a species that holds such great value to society due to its grace and beauty, Roseate Terns are frighteningly endangered. Their populations have been declining for over a century, with recent surveys by Partners in Flight categorizing them under the Yellow Watch List for species with dwindling populations. They are threatened throughout North America and continue to be harmed by factors like hunting for sport, their eggs, or for their plumes,
habitat loss due to oil spills, and toxic chemicals like pesticides. Human disturbance also plays a huge role in their declining numbers, as they require secluded areas to thrive in.

True awareness cannot come without understanding who these birds really are, and without awareness, their dire situation cannot be improved. These birds have stimulated the imaginations of mankind since they were first observed by then and continue to do so through every enthusiastic birder and environmentalist. So, in order for future generations to be blessed with the sights we have taken for granted, stronger conservation efforts must be made a priority.

Ornithology

Bird Watching Academy & Camp Subscription Boxes

At the Bird Watching Academy & Camp we help kids, youth, and adults get excited and involved in bird watching. We have several monthly subscription boxes that you can subscribe to. Our monthly subscription boxes help kids, youth, and adults learn about birds, bird watching, and bird conservation.

Bird Watching Binoculars for Identifying Roseate Terns

The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing Roseate Terns are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.

Roseate Tern Stickers

Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the Roseate Tern. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.

Bird Feeders For Roseate Terns

There are many types of bird feeders. Here are our favorite bird feeders for your backyard. We use all of these bird feeders currently. Kids will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. Using this collection of bird feeders will provide a wide variety and many types of birds.

Best Bird Houses For Roseate Terns

There are many types of bird houses. Building a bird house is always fun but can be frustrating. Getting a bird house for kids to watch birds grow is always fun. If you spend a little extra money on bird houses, it will be well worth every penny and they’ll look great.

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