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10

Aleutian Tern (Onychoprion aleuticus) Size: 32-34 cm

Australia: Family Group 10 Family Group 10 Table Brown Skua South Polar Skua Arctic Jaeger Pomarine Jaeger Long-tailed Jaeger Pacific Gull Kelp Gull Silver Gull Crested Tern Lesser Crested Tern Caspian Tern Australian Tern Gull-billed Tern White-fronted Tern Black-naped Tern Roseate Tern Antarctic Tern Arctic Tern Common Tern Little Tern Fairy Tern Whiskered Tern White-winged Black Tern Grey Ternlet White Tern Sooty Tern Bridled Tern Aleutian Tern Common Noddy Black Noddy Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Aleutian Terns are medium-sized terns. During the breeding season they have a black cap that also covers the entire nape of the neck, connecting to the grey mantle and wings. The black eyes are set into a black eye stripe. Frons and front (throat, chest, belly, vent) are all white. The upperwings are grey, with a white leading edge. The underwings are white, except for a narrow dark-grey trailing edge. The irises are black. Bill, short legs and feet are black. The black, pointy bill has a straight edge to the lower mandible. In eclipse Aleutian Terns have white head, except for a dark-grey patch at the back of the head. The wings are duller grey than during the breeding season. Juveniles birds have scalloped wing coverts that are more brownish than those of adult Aleutian Terns.

Taxonomy, classification See Aleutian Tern at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Aleutian Tern is available HERE . Aleutian Terns are a strongly migratory species. As their name suggests, they breed on the Aleutian Islands, but also around the coastline of Alaska, the far-eastern coastline of Siberia and around the Sea of Okhotsk, including offshoreislands, as far South as the Sakhalin peninsula. On migration they are spotted regularly along the far-eastern Asian coastline and Japan, but their wintering grounds are less well-established. Apart from spending a lot of time on the open sea, they have been reported from the coastlines of the southern Philippines, Malaysia and the eastern half of Indonesia. In Australia Aleutian Terns are only found as very rare vagrants. All records so far are from one single location near Old Bar, on the coastline of NSW, at least 2000 km farther South than previously known records. The Aleutian Terns found in Australia so far were spotted on a sand spit.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Aleutian Terns were first reported from the Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, by L. Murphy in December 2016, where they were found again a year later, in December 2017. This record was verified - and sighting information provided by - M. Roderick. B. Hensen reports finding 2 Aleutian Terns at the same location in February 2018. M. Eaton reports finding several Aleutian Terns at the same location in December 2019.

Photos

ADULT

NON-BREEDING

Frontal view of an Aleutian Tern in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Near-frontal view of an Aleutian Tern in non-breeding plumage; note the fine white eye-ring (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Lateral view of an Aleutian Tern in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Lateral view of an Aleutian Tern in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Lateral view of two Aleutian Terns in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Lateral view of two Aleutian Terns in non-breeding plumage, one of which is preening (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Yawn! It's been a long journey from the Aleutian Islands (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Near-dorsal view of an Aleutian Tern in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Near-dorsal view of an Aleutian Tern in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Near-dorsal view of an Aleutian Tern in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Dorsal view of 3 Aleutian Terns in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Near-frontal view of an Aleutian Tern in non-breeding plumage, right, with Little Terns, centre and left, and Common Terns, back, for comparison (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, February 2018]

Lateral view of an Aleutian Tern in non-breeding plumage; click on image to see Little Terns and Common Terns for comparison (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, February 2018]

Two Aleutian Terns in non-breeding plumage, front right, with Little Terns and Common Terns for comparison
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, February 2018]

Lateral view of an Aleutian Tern in non-breeding plumage in flight; note the characteristic dark trailing edge on the inner wing - this, combined with the shape of the bill, the shape of the grey area on the back of the head and the forked tail [not visible here] characterize the species (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2017]

Aleutian Tern, top, and Little Tern, bottom, both in non-breeding plumage, in flight (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2017]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-lateral view of an Aleutian Tern in non-breeding plumage, right, with a juvenile bird, left, on a sand bar
(photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2017]

Near-lateral view of an Aleutian Tern in non-breeding plumage, right, with a juvenile bird, left, on a sand bar; for comparison, the two birds at the centre are Red-necked Stints (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar, NSW, December 2017]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.