Back Elegante sterretjie Afrikaans ثالاسوس ايليجانس ARZ Zərif kəkilli susüpürən Azerbaijani Южноамериканска рибарка Bulgarian Skrav tek Breton Xatrac elegant Catalan Thalasseus elegans CEB Rybák západní Czech Môr-wennol gain Welsh Schmuckseeschwalbe German
| Elegant tern | |
|---|---|
| |
| Displaying birds at Upper Newport Bay, California | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Laridae |
| Genus: | Thalasseus |
| Species: | T. elegans
|
| Binomial name | |
| Thalasseus elegans (Gambel, 1849)
| |
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Sterna elegans Gambel, 1849 | |
The elegant tern (Thalasseus elegans) is a tern in the family Laridae. It breeds on the Pacific coast of southern California in the United States and western Mexico, and migrates south to Peru, Ecuador and Chile for the northern winter; in the late summer and fall, some also disperse north to Oregon and more rarely Washington.
This species breeds in very dense colonies on coasts and islands, including Isla Rasa[2] and Montague Island in Mexico,[3] and South Bay Salt Works (San Diego) and Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in California.[4] Exceptionally, in can occur as an accidental inland on suitable large freshwater lakes.[5]
The elegant tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, almost invariably from the sea, like most Thalasseus terns. It usually dives directly, and not from the "stepped-hover" favored by the Arctic tern. The offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display.
This Pacific species has wandered to western Europe as a rare vagrant on a number of occasions. The first European record was at Carlingford Lough in County Down, Northern Ireland, in late June 1982.[6] It has nested in Spain,[7][6][8] and has interbred with a Sandwich tern in France.[6] There is also one record from Cape Town, South Africa, in January 2006, the first record for Africa.
- ^ BirdLife International (2020). "Thalasseus elegans". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22694552A178970750. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22694552A178970750.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ "SDNHM - Isla Rasa".
- ^ "Searchable Ornithological Research Archive" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
- ^ "Elegant Terns expanding in California". Audubon California. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ^ "Observations". iNaturalist. 19 March 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ^ a b c Stoddart, Andy; Batty, Chris (2019). "The Elegant Tern in Britain and Europe". British Birds. 112 (2): 99–109.
- ^ Dufour, Paul; Pons, Jean-Marc; Collinson, J. Martin; Gernigon, Julien; Ignacio Dies, J.; Sourrouille, Patricia; Crochet, Pierre-André (2017). "Multilocus barcoding confirms the occurrence of Elegant Terns in Western Europe" (PDF). Journal of Ornithology. 158 (2): 351–361. doi:10.1007/s10336-016-1380-0. ISSN 2193-7192. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ^ José Ignacio Dies, Ana Abad & Miguel Chardí: First record of multiple Elegant Tern nests in Spain at birdguides.com (retrieved 17 August 2008)