• 

  Profile

• 

  In flight

Seabirds

Caspian Tern

Hydroprogne caspia

• common
• 56 km/h
• Starter
• Least Concern

Largest tern in the world, with a thick coral-red bill. Your message rides first class.

Population

roughly 250,000–470,000 individuals globally (2012 estimate cited by BirdLife DataZone/IUCN); overall trend increasing, with some regional populations (e.g. Baltic Sea) declining

Habitat

Sandy, shell-strewn, or shingle beaches, sand dunes, and bare rock islets/reefs for breeding; estuaries, lagoons, large lakes, reservoirs, and coastal waters with clear, shallow fishing grounds for foraging

Fun fact

The Caspian Tern is the largest tern species in the world, and the oldest known individual — banded in Michigan in 1986 and found in Illinois in 2018 — was at least 32 years, 1 month old (average Great Lakes lifespan is closer to 12 years).

Range

Subcosmopolitan but patchy/scattered distribution — breeds locally on coasts and large inland waters across North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia; northern populations are migratory, wintering on southern coasts and in the tropics, while equatorial populations are largely sedentary

Diet

Almost entirely fish, caught by plunge-diving from flight into shallow water; also takes crustaceans (e.g. crayfish), occasionally large insects, eggs/chicks of other birds, and small rodents; sometimes kleptoparasitic on other terns

Size

0.53 m

Wingspan

1.36 m

Lifespan

32 years