Royal Tern

 

The Royal Tern is a sleek seabird of warm saltwater coasts.  So it is a bit of a mystery why the Royal Tern lives with us at Grand Harbor on the 14th hole of the Harbor Course behind the River Club near the back gate.  It lives there during the day along with Seagulls, Cormorants, White Pelicans, Ibis and occasional other species.  It has a tangerine-colored bill and a ragged, ink black crest against crisp white plumage.  They can be found on the southern, east and west coasts of the U.S. and Mexico.

The male and female select a ground nest site together on a sandy beach, or barrier island.  The nest is a small unlined depression in the sand, made by digging with the feet.  The adults then defecate around the nest rim, perhaps to reinforce the nest against flooding.  The nest rim hardens after a few weeks.  They lay one or two eggs which incubate for 28-31 days.  The chicks hatch with their eyes open, covered with down and able to leave the nest within one day.  They will return to the nest for 28-35 days.  Royal Terns are very social, and the chicks congregate in groups that may contain thousands of chicks.  Each parent only feeds its own chick, finding it by recognizing the call.

Royal Terns eat mostly small fish and shrimp, which they capture by flying 20-30 feet above the water and plunge-diving to seize prey in the bill.  After capturing prey, they rise up quickly, usually swallowing the prey while in flight.  The oldest recorded Royal Tern was at least 30 years, 6 months old when it was found in Belize in 2013.  It had been banded in North Carolina in 1983.