Wildlifeof Malaysia
Roseate Tern
Gulls, Terns & Skuas
Photo: MPF · CC BY-SA 4.0 (May be cropped or resized)
Sterna dougallii
Basic stats
Diet
Fish, caught by plunge-diving, almost always at sea
Habitat
Marine; nests in a ground scrape, often in a hollow or under dense vegetation
Clutch size
1–2, rarely 3 eggs
Size
33–36cm
Wingspan
67–76cm
The roseate tern is a small-medium tern, 33–36 cm long with a wingspan of 67–76 cm, that can be confused with the common, Arctic and Sandwich terns. The adults have very long, flexible tail streamers and orange-red legs, and the name refers to the pink breast in breeding plumage. The thin sharp bill is black with a red base that develops through the breeding season and is more extensive, fully red, in tropical and southern hemisphere subspecies. The species name commemorates the Scottish physician and collector Peter McDougall (Wikipedia, general species account).
It feeds by plunge-diving for fish, almost always from the sea, and is much more marine than related terns, only rarely visiting freshwater lagoons on the coast to bathe and never fishing in fresh water. It nests in a ground scrape, often in a hollow or under dense vegetation, and lays one or two, rarely three, eggs (Wikipedia, general species account).
Quick answers
- What does the Roseate Tern eat?
- Fish, caught by plunge-diving, almost always at sea
- What habitat does the Roseate Tern live in?
- Marine; nests in a ground scrape, often in a hollow or under dense vegetation
- How many eggs does the Roseate Tern lay?
- 1–2, rarely 3 eggs
- How big is the Roseate Tern?
- 33–36cm
- What is the wingspan of the Roseate Tern?
- 67–76cm