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More About Terns and Ternlets ...
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Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily Sterninae of the gull family Laridae. They are less closely related to the waders, auks and skimmers. They have a worldwide distribution.
Most terns belong to the large genus Sterna, with the other genera being small, though some authorities split the genus Sterna into several smaller genera (see list, below).
Many terns breeding in temperate zones are long-distance migrants, and the Arctic Tern probably sees more daylight than any other creature, since it migrates from its northern breeding grounds to Antarctic waters. One Arctic Tern, ringed as a chick (not yet able to fly) on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast in eastern Britain in summer 1982, reached Melbourne, Australia in October 1982, a sea journey of over 22,000 km (14,000 miles) in just three months from fledging - an average of over 240 km per day, and one of the longest journeys ever recorded for a bird.
They are in general medium to large birds, typically with grey or white plumage, often with black markings on the head. They have longish bills and webbed feet. They are lighter bodied and more streamlined than gulls, and look elegant in flight with long tails and long narrow wings. Terns in the genus Sterna have deeply forked tails, those in Chlidonias and Larosterna shallowly forked tails, while the noddies (genera Anous, Procelsterna, Gygis) have unusual 'notched wedge' shaped tails, the longest tail feathers being the middle-outer, not the central nor the outermost
Most terns (Sterna and the noddies) hunt fish by diving, often hovering first, but the marsh terns (Chlidonias) pick insects of the surface of fresh water. Terns only glide infrequently; a few species, notably Sooty Tern, will soar high above the sea. Apart from bathing, they only rarely swim, despite having webbed feet.
Terns are generally long-lived birds, with several species now known to live in excess of 25-30 years.
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Source: Wikipedia Read more about Terns and Ternlets
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AUDIO CLIPS
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Common Tern
0.020MB WAV Hear Sound
Audbon - Project Puffin
Common Terns Call
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Least Tern
0.190MB WAV Hear Sound
Florida Bird Songs
Least Tern call
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Common Tern
0.070MB WAV Hear Sound
Bird Population in Taivalkoski
Common Tern audio clip
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Forster's Tern
0.330MB WAV Hear Sound
Minnesota's Pine to Prairie Birding Trail
Forster's Tern call
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Common Tern
0.350MB WAV Hear Sound
Minnesota's Pine to Prairie Birding Trail
Common Tern call
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Common Tern
0.130MB WAV Hear Sound
Välenområdet
Common Tern call
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Black Tern
0.050MB WAV Hear Sound
Välenområdet
Black Tern call
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Tern
0.410MB MP3 Hear Sound
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Terns
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Arctic Tern
0.210MB MP3 Hear Sound
The Virtual Bird
Arctic Tern call
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Little Tern
0.040MB MP3 Hear Sound
Club voor Natuurgeluiden Registratie
Little Tern
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Common Tern
0.110MB MP3 Hear Sound
Club voor Natuurgeluiden Registratie
Common Tern
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Black Tern
0.160MB MP3 Hear Sound
Club voor Natuurgeluiden Registratie
Black Tern
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Black Tern
0.530MB WAV Hear Sound
Calgary's Weaselhead Society
Black Tern
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Common Tern
0.350MB WAV Hear Sound
Knutsford Ornithological Society
Common Tern
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Little Tern
0.240MB WAV Hear Sound
Knutsford Ornithological Society
Little Tern
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Sandwich Tern
0.240MB WAV Hear Sound
Knutsford Ornithological Society
Sandwich Tern
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Common Tern
WAV Hear Sound
Les Oiseaux du Québec
audio clip of Common Tern
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Arctic Tern
Streaming RAM Hear Sound
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sound recordings with scientific data. To view spectrograms, follow this link
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Black Tern
Streaming RAM Hear Sound
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sound recordings with scientific data. To view spectrograms, follow this link
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Caspian Tern
Streaming RAM Hear Sound
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sound recordings with scientific data. To view spectrograms, follow this link
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Common Tern
Streaming RAM Hear Sound
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sound recordings with scientific data. To view spectrograms, follow this link
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Elegant Tern
Streaming RAM Hear Sound
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sound recordings with scientific data. To view spectrograms, follow this link
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Forster's Tern
Streaming RAM Hear Sound
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sound recordings with scientific data. To view spectrograms, follow this link
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Gull-billed Tern
Streaming RAM Hear Sound
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sound recordings with scientific data. To view spectrograms, follow this link
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Least Tern
Streaming RAM Hear Sound
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sound recordings with scientific data. To view spectrograms, follow this link
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Roseate Tern
Streaming RAM Hear Sound
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sound recordings with scientific data. To view spectrograms, follow this link
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Royal Tern
Streaming RAM Hear Sound
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sound recordings with scientific data. To view spectrograms, follow this link
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Sandwich Tern
Streaming RAM Hear Sound
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sound recordings with scientific data. To view spectrograms, follow this link
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Caspian Tern
0.130MB MP3 Hear Sound
Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas
Caspian Tern call; from John Feith's Bird Song Ear Training Guide CD
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Forster's Tern
0.140MB MP3 Hear Sound
Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas
Forster's Tern call; from John Feith's Bird Song Ear Training Guide CD
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Black Tern
0.090MB MP3 Hear Sound
Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas
Black Tern call; from John Feith's Bird Song Ear Training Guide CD
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