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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Sterna hirundo
Common Tern

 
Scientific Name: Sterna hirundo Linnaeus, 1758
English Name: Common Tern
 
Classification / Taxonomy
Scientific Name - Concept Reference: American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Classification Level: Species
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: B-COTE
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Aves Charadriiformes Laridae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (Apr 2016)
Provincial Status: S3S4M (May 2025)
BC List: Blue
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status: Not at Risk (May 1998)
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 4 - Secure (2005)
Migratory Bird Convention Act: Y
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Global Reproduction Comments: Eggs are laid mostly May-July. Clutch size is 2-3. Incubation lasts 21-27 days, mainly by female. Both sexes tend young, which may leave nest after 3 days (return for brooding) and first fly at about 4 weeks. May lay 2 clutches/year, but second brood rarely fledges. In New York, breeding season was timed to overlap with seasonal increase in food abundance, but food availability began to decline before period of peak demand for food by chicks (Safina and Burger 1988); in a two-year study, fish abundance affected reproductive performance (Safina et al. 1988).
Global Ecology Comments: In Massachusetts, loss of eggs and chicks was attributed to nocturnal desertion of nests by adults in response to predation by great horned owl (Nisbet and Welton 1984). Presence of mink can reduce reproductive success (Condor 95:708-711). Nonbreeding: singly or in small loose groups, sometimes in large flocks in migration (Stiles and Skutch 1989).
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		N /
N /
Y /
na /
Global Migration Comments: Arrives in breeding areas April-May (Bent 1921). Migration in Costa Rica occurs late September to mid-November and April-May (Stiles and Skutch 1989).
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence) 		Lakes / Lake / Unknown
Lakes / Pond/Open Water / Unknown
Ocean / Eelgrass Beds / Unknown
Ocean / Intertidal Marine / Unknown
Ocean / Kelp Bed / Unknown
Ocean / Marine Island / Unknown
Ocean / Pelagic / Unknown
Ocean / Reefs / Unknown
Ocean / Sheltered Waters - Marine / Unknown
Ocean / Subtidal Marine / Unknown
Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Facultative - frequent use
Wetland / Bog / Unknown
Wetland / Fen / Unknown
Wetland / Marsh / Unknown
Wetland / Swamp / Unknown
Global Habitat Comments: Seacoasts, estuaries, bays, lakes, rivers, and marshes. Nests on sandy, pebbly, or stony beaches, matted vegetation, marsh islands, and grassy areas; typically on isolated, sparsely vegetated islands in large lakes or along coast, also in rivers. Breeds successfully on human-made islands, including navigational aids or cribs (Karwowski et al. 1995). See Spendelow and Patton (1988) and Ramos and del Nevo (1995) for further details on nesting habitat in different regions.
Food Habits: Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Piscivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: Eats mainly small fishes (sometimes also crustaceans and insects) obtained at surface of water by diving from air. Susceptible (especially females just prior to laying) to poisoning from dinoflagellate toxin accumulated in fishes (Nisbet 1983). Pair may defend feeding territory away from nest, especially prior to incubation (Ehrlich et al. 1992).
Global Phenology: Diurnal: Adult, Immature
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: Y
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 37/ / 120
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: BREEDING: northern Alberta across central Ontario and southern Quebec to southern Labrador, south to eastern Washington, southeastern Alberta, northeastern Montana, North Dakota, northeastern South Dakota, central Minnesota, northeastern Illinois, northwestern Indiana, southern Michigan, northern Ohio, northwestern Pennsylvania, central and northern New York, and northwestern Vermont, locally along coast to North Carolina, and locally on Gulf Coast and Bermuda, Greater Antilles, and Netherlands Antilles (AOU 1983, van Halewyn and Norton 1984). In Old World. Nonbreeders occur in summer at James Bay, throughout Great Lakes region, along Atlantic-Gulf coast, south in Middle America to Costa Rica, and throughout West Indies. NON-BREEDING: Baja California and South Carolina to Peru and northern Argentina (AOU 1983); rare in Hawaii. In Old World.
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: Hammerson, G.
Last Updated: Apr 30, 1996
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
   
References and Related Literature
Alberico, J. A. R., J. M. Reed, and L. W. Oring. 1991. Nesting near a common tern colony increases and decreases spotted sandpiper nest predation. Auk 108:904-910.
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
Barcena, F., A. M. Teixeira, and Andres Bermejo. 1984. Breeding seabird populations in the Atlantic sector of the Iberian Peninsula. Pages 335-345 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
Barrett, R. T., and W. Vader. 1990. The status and conservation of breeding seabirds in Norway. Pages 323-333 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
Bent, A.C. 1921. Life histories of North American gulls and terns. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 113. Washington, D.C.
Brown, R. G. B., and D. N. Nettleship. 1984. The seabirds of northeastern North America: their present status and conservation requirements. Pages 85-100 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
Buckley, P. A., and F. G. Buckley. 1984. Seabirds of the north and middle Atlantic coast of the United States: their status and conservation. Pages 101-133 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
Burger, J., and M. Gochfeld. 1991. The common tern: its breeding biology and social behavior. Columbia Univ. Press, New York. 413 pp.
Burns, K. J., and R. M. Zink. 1990. Temporal and geographic homogeneity of gene frequencies in the fox sparrow (PASSERELLA ILIACA). Auk 107:421-425.
Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, et al. 1990b. The Birds of British Columbia Vol. 2: Nonpasserines: Diurnal Birds of Prey through Woodpeckers. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC.
Chapdelaine, G., and P. Brousseau. 1992. Distribution, abundance, and changes of seabird populations of the Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec, 1979-1989. Can. field-Nat. 106:427-434.
Clapp, R. B., and P. A. Buckley. 1984. Status and conservation of seabirds in the southeastern United States. Pages 135-155 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
Cooper, J., A. J. Williams, and P. L. Britton. 1984. Distribution, population sizes and conservation of breeding seabirds in the Afrotropical region. Pages 403-419 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1992. Birds in Jeopardy: the Imperiled and Extinct Birds of the United States and Canada, Including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. 259 pp.
Erwin, R. M. 1980. Breeding habitat used by colonially nesting waterbirds in two mid-Atlantic US regions under different regimes of human disturbance. Biol. Conserv. 18: 39-51.
Evans, P. G. H. 1984b. Status and conservation of seabirds in northwest Europe (excluding Norways and the USSR). Pages 293-321 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
Evers, D. C. 1992. A guide to Michigan's endangered wildlife. Univ. Michigan Press, Ann Arbor. viii + 103 pp.
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp.
Hays, H. 1984. Common terns raise young from successive broods. Auk 101:274-280.
Howes, L.-A., and W. A. Montevecchi. 1993. Population trends and interactions among terns and gulls in Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland. Can. J. Zool. 71:1516-1520.
Hyslop, C., and J. Kennedy, editors. 1992. Bird trends: a report on results of national ornithological surveys in Canada. Number 2, Autumn 1992. Migratory Birds Conservation Division, Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, Ontario. 20 pp.
James, P. C. 1984. The status and conservation of seabirds in the Mediterranean region. Pages 371-375 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
James, R.D., and R.E. Harris. 1996. Status report on the Common Tern Sterna hirundo in Canada. Prepared for the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. 35pp + appendices.
Karwowski, K., J. E. Gates, and L. H. Harper. 1995. Common terns nesting on navigational aids and natural islands in the St. Lawrence River, New York. Wilson Bulletin 107:423-436.
Le Grand, G., K. Emmerson, and A. Martin. 1984. The status and conservation of seabirds in the Macaronesian Islands. Pages 377-391 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
Melville, D. S. 1984. Seabirds of China and the surrounding seas. Pages 501-511 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2.
Minsky, D. 1981. The terns of Cape Cod. The Associaiton for the Preservation of Cape Cod, Informational Bull. No. 9. 34 pp.
Morris, R. D., and G. P. Burness. 1992. A new procedure for transmitter attachment: effects on brood attendance and chick feeding rates by male common terns. Condor 94:239-243.
Nisbet, I. C. T. 1983. Paralytic shellfish poisoning: effects on breeding terns. Condor 85:338-345.
Nisbet, I. C. T., and M. J. Welton. 1984. Seasonal variations in breeding success of common terns: consequencesof predation. Condor 86:53-60.
Palmer, R. S. 1941. A behavior study of the common tern. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 42. 119 pp.
Raffaele, H. A. 1983a. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Fondo Educativo Interamericano, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 255 pp.
Ramos, J. A., and A. J. del Nevo. 1995. Nest-site selection by roseate terns and common terns in the Azores. Auk 112:580-589.
Safina, C., and J. Burger. 1988. Prey dynamics and the breeding phenology of common terns (STERNA HIRUNDO). Auk 105:720-726.
Safina, C., et al. 1988. Evidence for prey limitation of common and roseate tern reproduction. Condor 90:852-859.
Spendelow, J. A. and S. R. Patton. 1988. National Atlas of Coastal Waterbird Colonies in the Contiguous United States: 1976-1982. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 88(5). x + 326 pp.
Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
van Halewyn, R., and R. L. Norton. 1984. The status and conservation of seabirds in the Caribbean. Pages 169-222 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2
Wiggins, D. A., et al. 1984. Occurrence and timing of second clutches in common terns. Auk 101:281-284.
Zink, R. M., S. Rohwer, A. V. Andreev, and D. L. Dittman. 1995. Trans-Beringia comparisons of mitochondrial DNA differentiation in birds. Condor 97:639-649.
 

Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.

Suggested Citation:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1996. Species Summary: Sterna hirundo. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 24, 2026).