Bird Sighting
- Date
- 05/05/2024
- Location
- Elton Hall Flash
- Recording area
- Central area
- Grid reference
- SJ 7246 5957
- Observer
- admin
- Notes
- Imported from 11-BirdList2024-2026-10-19.csv, line 35.
Grid reference: SJ 7246 5957 53.13262, -2.41300 Open in OpenStreetMap
Common Tern in our records
- Records
- 6
- First recorded
- 24/04/2021
- Last recorded
- 26/04/2026
- Places
- Elton Hall Flash
Other recent records
About the Common Tern
The common tern (Sterna hirundo) is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory, wintering in coastal tropical and subtropical regions. Breeding adults have light grey upperparts, white to very light grey underparts, a black cap, orange-red legs, and a narrow pointed bill. Depending on the subspecies, the bill may be mostly red with a black tip or all black. There are several similar species, including the partly sympatric Arctic tern, which can be separated on plumage details, leg and bill colour, or vocalisations.
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Least Concern
- Wingspan
- 88 cm

MPF, CC BY-SA 4.0 
JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/), CC BY-SA 4.0 
zinogre, CC BY-SA 4.0 
Tiia Monto, CC BY-SA 3.0 Klaus Rassinger und Gerhard Cammerer, Museum Wiesbaden, CC BY-SA 3.0 
Estormiz, CC0 
Michelle Kinsey Bruns, CC BY 2.0 
Michelle Kinsey Bruns, CC BY 2.0
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article “Common tern” by its contributors (introduction, may be shortened), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, with the photographer and licence under each one.