Medium. Long forked tail. Tail streamers do not project beyond wings when at rest. Sexes alike.
Adults: Breeding: Cap, black. Eye, dark brown. Back, most of wings, light grey. Outer primaries darker with dark grey along outer and inner web of outermost primary. Secondaries lack band on trailing edge below. Rump, most of tail, white, the outer tail feather having a dark grey outerweb. Underparts, white, but greyish on breast and belly. Bill, black (longipennis), red with black tip or red (hirundo). Legs, black (longipennis), red (hirundo). Non-breeding: Similar to breeding plumage but forehead is white and forecrown is streaked with white. In flight and when perched, black shoulder is visible. Underparts, white. Tail is shorter.
Immatures: 1st winter: Similar to non-breeding adult. Black shoulder, but secondaries brownish-grey and feathers of upperparts have a subterminal black band and tipped white.
Other Names (World)
Common Tern, Asiatic Common Tern
Regular summer migrant (September - April) to coastal north-western, northern, eastern and south-eastern Australia from Port Hedland, WA to Adelaide, SA. Many immatures overwinter.
Habitat
Mainly coasts, including estuaries, reefs, bays, salt-fields and salt-marshes, usually in flocks.
Breeds across Europe, Asia and North America, migrates in summer to the Southern Hemisphere, including Tasmania.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 1,600,000 - 4,600,000 (2010).
Status LC
Human disturbance, habitat loss by coastal development, pollution, predation at nesting colonies by rats and gulls, and susceptibility to avian influenza are the main threats.
Food
Mainly fish, occasionally insects and crustaceans.
Voice
Excitable, high-pitched, brisk, 'ki-ki-ki-ki' and a harsh, drawn-out 'keeeeyah'. A harsh, rasping and emphatic, 'keey-yah' call. Also a short, sharp alarm call.
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) [XC871176]
by Olivier SWIFT from Arrondissement de la Rochelle (near Loix), Charente-Maritime, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France (flight call)
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) [XC894059]
by Tristan Guillebot de Nerville from Arrondissement de Quimper (near Fouesnant), Finistere, Brittany, France (duet)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. April - July in Europe, Asia and North America.
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Nest
A shallow scrape in sand or shingle, sometimes lined with grass or feathers. In colonies.
Eggs (Guide)
1 - 4; buff or greyish with heavy grey and brown markings; ellipsoidal; about 41 x 30 mm. Incubation: about 21 - 25 days; by both sexes.
Subspecies
Central Asian minussensis often considered to be no more than a hybrid form between nominate hirundo and longipennis.
Two (longipennis, the more common and hirundo) in Australia.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
hirundo Linnaeus, 1758 - North America to northern South America, Atlantic islands, Europe, northern Africa (Tunisia) and western Africa (Mauritania, Senegal, erratically Nigeria), through Middle East and Black and Caspian Seas to Yenisey Valley. Winters south of Tropic of Cancer.
longipennis Nordmann, 1835 - North-eastern Siberia south to north-eastern China (central Heilongjiang to Inner Mongolia and Shanxi). Winters south-eastern Asia to Australia.
tibetana Saunders, H, 1876 - Western Mongolia south to Kashmir, Tibet and Sichuan, at high altitudes. Winters mostly eastern Indian Ocean.
minussensis Sushkin, 1925 - Central Asia through Transbaikalia to northern Mongolia and southern Tibet. Winters mainly northern Indian Ocean.
Similar Species
Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii)
Smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Paler or whiter above. Trailing edge to primaries are white not dark. Black only on leading edge of primaries. Tail streamers do not extend beyond wings at rest. Breeding with breeding. Legs are red. Bill is red or red with a black tip. Bill is finer. Tail streamers extend well beyond wings at rest.
Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea)
Non-breeding with non-breeding. Bill is shorter. Legs are much shorter. Underwing primaries are whiter. No black on tail. Tail streamers extend well beyond wings at rest.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet