Animalia Life

Chlidonias niger
SUBFAMILY
Sterninae
TAXONOMY
Sterna nigra Linnaeus, 1758, Sweden. Two subspecies are recognized.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Guifette noire; German: Trauerseeschwalbe; Spanish: Fumarel Comъn.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
9–11 in (23–28 cm), 0.1–0.2 lb (60–74 g). Small dark tern with head, neck, and breast black, becoming more slay gray on back and belly. Nonbreeding adult pale gray above, white below with dark patch on side of breast and white head. Juvenile resembles nonbreeding adult.
DISTRIBUTION
Inland temperate regions of North America, Europe, and eastern Asia.
HABITAT
Breeds on inland ponds, pools, lakes, peat bogs, and marshes; builds floating nest or nests on floating vegetation. Winters on wetlands and along coasts and estuaries.
BEHAVIOR
Diurnal; territorial.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds on aquatic insects, small fish, snails, tadpoles, and frogs by aerial hawking, contact-dipping, and, rarely, plunge-diving.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Breeds May through June in North America and Europe in small colonies of 20 or fewer (rarely up to 100). Monogamous; both members of pair incubate the eggs and care for the young. Usually builds a floating nest. Lays two to three eggs. Incubation period 20–23 days. Fledging period about 25 days. Rarely mobs predators.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not globally threatened. Many local populations vulnerable to declines due to wetland reclamation, storms, wave action, contaminants (pesticides), and lack of food due to introduced predatory fish (which eliminates the prey for the terns).
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Often nest in small lakes or marshes slated for draining.

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