The Common Tern is a slender, buoyant relative of the gulls, built for a life of plunge-diving. Pale gray above and white below with a crisp black cap, a deeply forked "swallow tail," and a red-orange bill tipped in black, it hovers over the water on angular wings, then folds up and dives headfirst to snatch a small fish. Graceful and noisy, terns wheel over the shallows with harsh, grating calls that ring along the Great Lakes shore.
Common Terns nest in colonies on sparsely vegetated islands, beaches, and man-made structures, and in Michigan they are a species of conservation concern at the state level, having lost much nesting habitat to development, predators, and competition. Colonies are fiercely defensive, diving at and even striking intruders that approach too closely. After breeding they gather along the shorelines to fatten before migrating to the coasts and beyond for winter.
Feeds almost entirely on small fish caught by plunge-diving from the air, hovering to spot prey then dropping headfirst into the water. It also takes aquatic insects, and often carries a single fish crosswise in the bill to present to a mate or feed to chicks.
Terns are more slender and graceful than gulls, with narrow pointed wings, a forked tail, and a black cap in breeding season. They plunge-dive for fish rather than scavenging and swimming as gulls often do.
In colonies on sparsely vegetated Great Lakes islands, beaches, and sometimes man-made structures like piers and dredge-spoil sites. Suitable nesting habitat has become limited, making them a state conservation concern.
You may be near a tern colony. Common Terns aggressively defend their nesting areas, diving at and sometimes striking people and predators that come too close. Back away and give the colony space.
Juveniles have a dark shoulder bar, a scaly ginger-and-gray back, a dark bill, and an incomplete cap that leaves the forehead white. Adults also lose the full black cap after breeding.
A colony. Common Terns nest in dense colonies on bare islands and artificial platforms, and the whole colony will lift and mob an intruder together — the reason the few remaining Michigan sites are protected.
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