Sunday, October 3, 2021

Royal Tern

 

A sleek seabird of warm saltwater coasts, the Royal Tern lives up to its regal name with a tangerine-colored bill and ragged, ink-black crest against crisp white plumage.


Royal Terns fly gracefully and slowly along coastlines, diving for small fish, which they capture with a swift strike of their daggerlike bills.


They are social birds, gathering between fishing expeditions on undisturbed beaches and nesting in dense, boisterous colonies.



In late summer and fall, Royal Terns lose most of their black crest and sport a white forehead. Cornell All About Birds

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