Pixel Wild
Common Tern
Common Tern
Sterna hirundo
Aves
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
10-16 yrs
Size
Medium
Diet
Carnivore
Activity
Diurnal
Social
Colony
Biome
Coastal wetland
Range
Worldwide
Movement
Flight
Breeding
Egg-laying
Defense
Speed
Status
Common

About

This seabird nests on rocky shores across the northern hemisphere. It migrates over 20,000 miles annually to reach its wintering grounds in the tropics.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    egg
    A clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
  2. 2.
    hatchling
    A naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
  3. 3.
    juvenile
    A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
  4. 4.
    adult
    Fully grown with adult plumage.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Charadriiformes
Family
Laridae
Genus
Sterna
Species
Sterna hirundo