TERN (tern)
Sea
birds related to gulls but characteristically smaller and having
a forked tail
Common
clues: Beach bird; Gull's cousin; Little gull; Sea swallow;
Cousin of a gull; Shore bird; Aquatic bird; Arctic bird; Bird
with a forked tail
Crossword
puzzle frequency:
4 times a year
Frequency
in English language:
28705 / 86800
News:
Terns
nesting early
Video:
Tern
tries to hatch a clam
Terns
are seabirds in the
family Sternidae,
previously considered a subfamily Sterninae
of the gull family
Laridae. They are less closely related to the waders, auks and
skimmers. They have a worldwide distribution.
Arctic
Tern at nest on the Farne Islands, Northumberland.
Most
terns belong to the large genus Sterna,
with the other genera being small, though some authorities split
the genus Sterna
into several smaller
genera (see list, below).
Many
terns breeding in temperate zones are long-distance migrants, and
the Arctic Tern probably sees more daylight than any other
creature, since it migrates from its northern breeding grounds to
Antarctic waters. One Arctic Tern, ringed as a chick (not yet
able to fly) on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast in
eastern Britain in summer 1982, reached Melbourne, Australia in
October 1982, a sea journey of over 22,000 km (14,000 miles) in
just three months from fledging - an average of over 240 km per
day, and one of the longest journeys ever recorded for a bird.
They
are in general medium to large birds, typically with grey or
white plumage, often with black markings on the head. They have
longish bills and webbed feet. They are lighter bodied and more
streamlined than gulls, and look elegant in flight with long
tails and long narrow wings. Terns in the genus Sterna
have deeply forked
tails, those in Chlidonias
and Larosterna
shallowly forked
tails, while the noddies
(genera Anous,
Procelsterna, Gygis)
have unusual 'notched wedge' shaped tails, the longest tail
feathers being the middle-outer, not the central nor the
outermost.
Most
terns (Sterna
and the noddies) hunt
fish by diving, often hovering first, but the marsh terns
(Chlidonias)
pick insects of the surface of fresh water. Terns only glide
infrequently; a few species, notably Sooty Tern, will soar high
above the sea. Apart from bathing, they only rarely swim, despite
having webbed feet.
Terns
are generally long-lived birds, with several species now known to
live in excess of 25-30 years.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Tern".
TERN
(207) 37
Tu+ >1 00 Sea swallow
14
Tu+ >1 08 Beach bird ERNE
14
We- >1 00 Gull relative SKUA
13
Tu+ >1 07 Gull's cousin
12
Tu >1 01 Shore bird ERNE GULL IBIS RAIL SORA
11
Tu >1 07 Gull cousin ERNE
6
Th- >1 05 Gull kin
5
Mo+ >1 01 Aquatic bird COOT GULL SWAN
5
Tu >1 04 Sea bird ERNE GULL
4
Th- >1 08 Shore flier ERNE
3
Th Rea 01 Arctic bird SKUA
3
We >1 00 Coastal bird ERNE GULL
3
We >1 07 Fork-tailed bird KITE
3
We+ >1 07 Fork-tailed flier KITE
3
Th- CSy 05 Fork-tailed gull
3
We CSy 05 Little gull
3
Tu >1 03 Shorebird ERNE GULL
2
Sa- NYT 08 Arctic ___
2
Mo >1 02 Bird on a beach
2
Tu >1 04 Bird with a forked tail
2
Fr- NYT 07 Cousin of a gull
00
Fork-tailed seabird
2
Tu- >1 00 Graceful bird KITE SWAN
2
Tu >1 06 Gull friend
2
Mo >1 04 Gull-like bird SKUA
|