The preferred summer habitats of the black tern are inland marshes and sloughs with fairly dense cattail or other marsh vegetation and pockets of open water. These wetlands are often shallow in nature. Its winter home is on the coasts of South America and it appears in considerable numbers on the South Atlantic and Gulf coast of North America during its periodic migrations, but all other times it a bird of the interior. Forbush & May, 1955; http://www.npsc.nbs.gov/resource/distr/others/nddanger/species/chlinige.htm
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland
Aquatic Biomes: lakes and ponds; rivers and streams
This bird has an approximate length of 9 to 10.25 inches and a wing spread of about 25 inches. In breeding season, this tern has a black head, neck and underparts with generally dark plumage. In the fall, it becomes lighter with gray wings. The young are a grayish-white color with dark patches on either side of their head. The tail is small and is only slightly notched compared with other terns. Its bill is very sharp and slender, shorter than the head; wings are long and pointed; and feet are webbed only to the middle of the toes. Forbush & May, 1955.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Average mass: 60 g.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 101 months.
The black tern can be found from central eastern Alaska, central Manitoba and Ontario south to northern California, Colorado, northern Missouri and Tennessee, also to the lakeshores of northern Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York; winters spent from Surinam to Peru and Chile. Forbush & May, 1955.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )
During the breeding season, these birds eat insects and freshwater fish such as damselflies and dragonflies, grubs and larvae and other small mollusks. The rest of the year, meals are usually of small marine fish. Some examples are anchovies, silversides and plankton. The average fish taken during breeding season is 2.5 to 3.0 cm and 3 grams. Dunn & Argo, 1995.
Black terns feed on insects that may be potentially harmful to humans.
Humans approaching the nest of a black tern may come with a serious headache because these birds have been known to attack humans that come too close. Pearson, 1936.
As of February 28, 1996, the black tern is no longer a candidate species. There is no legal requirement to help candidate species, however it is in the spirit of the Endangered Species Act to consider these species as having significant value and to be worth protecting. Candidate species are species which may warrant official listing as endangered or threatened; however data are not conclusive at the present time. The continuing loss of habitat due to wetland drainage is the main reason for the decline in black tern populations. Reduced hatching success in the midwestern United States may be due to agricultural pesticides. It has been recommended that marshes and sloughs used annually by black terns be protected for the birds and other wetland values. Black terns are a species of special concern in Michigan. http://www.npsc.nbs.gov/resource/distr/others/nddanger/species/chlinige.htm.
US Migratory Bird Act: protected
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
State of Michigan List: special concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
The blakc tern has been reported from the Pleistocene in dry lake beds of Fossil Lake, Lake Co., Oregon. Other names for the black tern are short-tailed tern, semipalmated tern and sea pigeon. Dunn & Agro, 1995; Forbush & May, 1955.
The black terns's courtship ritual is elaborate with much flying. Males often fly with fish in their mouth to attract females. They nest in small colonies in upland marshes and sloughs. Their nests can be found on muskrat bouse or floating masses of dead plants, usually over water 4 to 34 inches deep. The typical nest has 3 eggs that are laid from May to early August. Incubation lasts 22 days. The successful hatching rates of nests is very low because of predation and other disturbances. The young terns that do hatch leave the nests very early often swimming first, but flying within 24 days. Black terns do not breed until fully mature at two years of age. http://www.npsc.nbs.gov/resource/distr/others/nddanger/species/chlinige.htm)
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous
Average time to hatching: 21 days.
Average eggs per season: 3.
Unlike most species of terns, the Black Tern in breeding plumage has an all-black head and breast with gray wings and gray tail. The Black Tern (9-10 inches) may be separated from related White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) by its darker wings and tail, black bill, and dark legs. In winter, the Black Tern loses most of its black plumage, becoming white-breasted and white-throated with a dark gray crown. Males and females are similar to one another in all seasons. The Black Tern inhabits a large part of the Northern Hemisphere. In North America, this species breeds primarily in south-central Canada and the north-central United States, with small outlying breeding areas in California, the northeast, and the central Great Plains. Black Terns migrate south for the winter, when they may be found off both coasts of Central America and northern South America. Non-breeding Black Terns occur during summer months in this species’ winter range, as well as along the Gulf Coast of the U.S. In the Old World, this species breeds in northern Europe and Asia, wintering in West Africa. Black Terns breed in shallow, well-vegetated freshwater marshes. In winter, this species is primarily pelagic, being found in oceanic waters several miles offshore. On migration, Black Terns may be found on a variety of freshwater wetlands, including marshes, ponds, and rivers. This species mainly eats insects and fish, with fish comprising almost all of its diet in winter. Most North American birdwatchers see Black Terns in summer and on migration, when they are most easily observed while feeding. This species catches prey by flying low over water and swooping down to grab small fish and insects with their bills. Black Terns are most active during the day.
Unlike most species of terns, the Black Tern in breeding plumage has an all-black head and breast with gray wings and gray tail. The Black Tern (9-10 inches) may be separated from related White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) by its darker wings and tail, black bill, and dark legs. In winter, the Black Tern loses most of its black plumage, becoming white-breasted and white-throated with a dark gray crown. Males and females are similar to one another in all seasons. The Black Tern inhabits a large part of the Northern Hemisphere. In North America, this species breeds primarily in south-central Canada and the north-central United States, with small outlying breeding areas in California, the northeast, and the central Great Plains. Black Terns migrate south for the winter, when they may be found off both coasts of Central America and northern South America. Non-breeding Black Terns occur during summer months in this species’ winter range, as well as along the Gulf Coast of the U.S. In the Old World, this species breeds in northern Europe and Asia, wintering in West Africa. Black Terns breed in shallow, well-vegetated freshwater marshes. In winter, this species is primarily pelagic, being found in oceanic waters several miles offshore. On migration, Black Terns may be found on a variety of freshwater wetlands, including marshes, ponds, and rivers. This species mainly eats insects and fish, with fish comprising almost all of its diet in winter. Most North American birdwatchers see Black Terns in summer and on migration, when they are most easily observed while feeding. This species catches prey by flying low over water and swooping down to grab small fish and insects with their bills. Black Terns are most active during the day.
The black tern (Chlidonias niger) is a small tern generally found in or near inland water in Europe, Western Asia and North America. As its name suggests, it has predominantly dark plumage. In some lights it can appear blue in the breeding season, hence the old English name "blue darr".[2] The genus name is from Ancient Greek khelidonios, "swallow-like", from khelidon, "swallow": another old English name for the black tern is "carr (i.e. lake) swallow".[3] The species name is from Latin niger "shining black".[4]
Adults are 25 cm (10 in) long, with a wingspan 61 cm (24 in), and weigh 62 g (2+1⁄8 oz). They have short dark legs and a short, weak-looking black bill, measuring 27 mm (1+1⁄16 in), nearly as long as the head. The bill is long, slender, and looks slightly decurved. They have a dark grey back, with a white forewing, black head, neck (occasionally suffused with grey in the adult) and belly, black or blackish-brown cap (which unites in color with the ear coverts, forming an almost complete hood), and a light brownish-grey, 'square' tail. The face is white. There is a big dark triangular patch in front of the eye, and a broadish white collar in juveniles. There are greyish-brown smudges on the ides of the white breast, a downwards extension of the plumage of the upperparts. These marks vary in size and are not conspicuous. In non-breeding plumage, most of the black, apart from the cap, is replaced by grey. The plumage of the upperparts is drab, with pale feather-edgings. The rump is brownish-grey.
The North American race, C. n. surinamensis, is distinguishable from the European form in all plumages, and is considered by some to be a separate species.
In flight, the build appears slim. The wing-beats are full and dynamic, and flight is often erratic as it dives to the surface for food; similar to other tern species.
Its call has been described as a high-pitched "kik"; the sound of a large flock has been called "deafening".
Hybridisation between this species and white-winged black tern has been recorded from Sweden[5] and the Netherlands.[6] Two juvenile birds at Chew Valley Lake, England, in September 1978 and September 1981, were also believed to be hybrids; they showed mixed characters of the two species, specifically a combination of a dark mantle (a feature of white-winged black) with dark patches on the breast-side (a feature of black tern, not shown by white-winged black).[7][8]
Their breeding habitat is freshwater marshes across most of Canada, the northern United States and much of Europe and western Asia. They usually nest either on floating material in a marsh or on the ground very close to water, laying 2–4 eggs.
In England the black tern was abundant in the eastern Fens, especially in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, until the early nineteenth century. The English naturalist Thomas Pennant in 1769 referred to "vast flocks" of black terns "whose calls are almost deafening." Extensive drainage of its breeding grounds wiped out the English population by about 1840. Intermittent attempts by the black tern to recolonise England have proved unsuccessful, with only a handful of English breeding records, and one in Ireland, in the second half of the twentieth century.
North American black terns migrate to the coasts of northern South America, some to the open ocean. Old World birds winter in Africa.
Unlike the "white" Sterna terns, these birds do not dive for fish, but forage on the wing picking up items at or near the water's surface or catching insects in flight. They mainly eat insects and fish as well as amphibians.
The American race has occurred as a vagrant in Britain[9][10] and in Ireland.[11][12][13]
The North American population has declined in recent times due to loss of habitat.
The black tern is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
Nonbreeding
Eclipse breeding
Black terns mating in Tartu County, Estonia
Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden, Germany
Chlidonias niger niger - MHNT
The black tern (Chlidonias niger) is a small tern generally found in or near inland water in Europe, Western Asia and North America. As its name suggests, it has predominantly dark plumage. In some lights it can appear blue in the breeding season, hence the old English name "blue darr". The genus name is from Ancient Greek khelidonios, "swallow-like", from khelidon, "swallow": another old English name for the black tern is "carr (i.e. lake) swallow". The species name is from Latin niger "shining black".
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