The tern is a smallish but able bird that might be spoken of as one part gull, one part sea wren, and one part auk. The Tern is spry, squat, colorful, agile on short feathery legs and feet, and possesses a longish beak with a darkened endpoint. The masked cap on the Tern’s head and the gray and white plumage colorations make him a well-dressed beachy webfooter. But look again, the seasons may have changed the Tern’s colors!

The Tern is a seabird that operates on shores and coastal areas and occupies sand bars and tidal waterways for breeding, hunting, and mating. The Tern may track and dive for seagoing prey, or pick through marshy surface water. The Tern reaches its seasonal "terning" point each year in the Fall and migrates Southward. The Tern may occupy salt or fresh water land shores. The Tern is a bird of the dunes, picking over coastal shore for food and enjoying unspoiled beaches where he can find them.

Terns make their homes in North America and coastally through the Caribbean islands. In late summer or early fall, Terns winter in Central and South America. Some unique migratory patterns distinctive of subspecies remain on the Pacific and Mexican Gulf shores. Many Arctic and other Terns inhabit United Kingdom coastlands. Unfortunately, many Terns prefer the same public areas as humans.

The world of Terns has many different types of Terns and specific species within those groups. Bird watchers can build entire birding careers around the differentiation between terns. Noddies, brown backed terns, little White Terns, Marsh Terns, Crested Terns, and Large White Terns are some of the species subgroups. Caspian Terns, Incan Terns, Gull Billed Terns and Large Billed Terns also exist.

Terns have a graceful turn in the air, their grayish wingspans arcing gracefully through the sea shore and over water.  Royal Terns have fluffier eye bristles and more noticeable crests. The Incan tern has a more penguin-ish feel with curving cheek stripes like curlicues. This Tern follows the Humboldt Current in Peru and Chile. Mexico welcomes Black Terns foraging in waters rich with sea life.

Sadly, the Tern’s preference for resort beaches and coastal areas puts him in competition for the best shoreline addresses with humans. The expansion of coastal development has forced many species of Terns into the endangered or threatened birds listing in the national bird rosters of their host nations. These include the Fairy Tern of New Zealand, whose shores are the native habitat of that bird.

Short steppers like the Least Tern are no longer adorning women’s hats, but they have a long way to go before conservationists feel comfortable about their population status. The extended feathers and seasonal colorations make the Tern a fascinating subject for bird watchers everywhere. The Tern has a graceful command of their footing and needs this for foraging on the ocean surface and skimming ponds and marshes for fish and sea life proteins.

The Tern is an active co-parent, scratching out a nest and laying eggs in vulnerable coastland areas. Terns are very protective of nest chicks and may aggressively fly at humans conducting recreational activities. In extreme heat the Tern will soak the stomach area and drip cool the clutch nestlings. Young Terns will join in flock feeding to learn the ropes of sea skimming for food.

The Tern becomes an active flock fisher at coastland surfaces and sand bars. Many shorelines points of Europe including Arctic and Eastern, and North Atlantic rocky coastlines may see Terns happening about. Iceland and other countries may have bird refuges in autumnal months for protection of birding areas. Southwestern Pacific areas like Australia and New Caledonia also have tern populations to look after and conserve.

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