Species
Sandwich tern
Thalasseus sandvicensis
A slender, crested tern with a yellow-tipped black bill, nesting alongside royal terns on Georgia's islands.
Photo Claire Herzog (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- About 34 to 45 cm long
- Weight
- About 180 to 300 g
- Habitat
- Beaches, inlets and coastal waters
- Diet
- Small fish, shrimp and squid
- In Georgia
- A summer resident on the coast; a few winter
- Voice
- A grating "kirr-ick"
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Slim, pale tern; long black bill with a yellow tip; shaggy black crest
- Told apart from
- Royal tern, which is larger with an orange bill
- Told apart from
- Gull-billed tern, which has a thick all-black bill and no crest
- Where to look
- Beaches and inlets, April to October
Behaviour
Sandwich terns plunge-dive for small fish and often nest among royal terns in dense colonies.
Why they matter
Sandwich terns depend on the same few undisturbed island colonies as royal terns, and their fortunes follow those of Georgia's sandbars and barrier islands.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Nest — A scrape in sand in colonies
Eggs — Usually one or two
Incubation — About 23 to 25 days
Chicks — Gather in creches
Flight — At about four to five weeks
Lifespan — Wild birds over twenty years are recorded
Living around people
- Disturbance at colonies causes adults to flush, exposing eggs to heat and predators.
Misconceptions
- The yellow on the bill is food. It is the natural tip of the bill.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | A few wintering | A few present | Arriving | Arriving | Nesting | Chicks | Young flying | Families on beaches | Leaving | Last birds | A few wintering | A few wintering |
Where it lives
Recorded in 21 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
United States
If you found one
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