yellow-billed tern
{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Yellow-billed tern Sternula superciliaris.jpg| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Sternula
| species = superciliaris
| authority = (Vieillot, 1819)
| synonyms = Sterna superciliaris
| range_map = Sternula superciliaris map.svg
}}
The yellow-billed tern (Sternula superciliaris) is a small seabird found in South America. It is a species of tern in the family Laridae.
It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Its natural habitats are rivers, swamps, and freshwater lakes.
Description
It measures approximately 23–25 centimeters in body length and weighs 40–57 grams.Gochfeld, M., Burger, J., Garcia, E.F.J. & Boesman, P. (2018). Yellow-billed Tern (Sternula superciliaris). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. It has a yellow beak and feet, silvery grey wings and white underbody and forehead. Its crown, nape, and eyeline are black. Juveniles are brown and white without the black cap.Renaudier, A. and Claessens, O., 2014. Field identification of Least and Yellow-billed Terns: experience from French Guiana. Neotropical Birding, 15(1), pp.22-32.
==Nesting==
It frequently nests alongside colonies of the large-billed tern (Phaetusa simplex) and the black skimmer (Rynchops niger).{{cite journal |last1=Zarza |first1=Rebecca |last2=Cintra |first2=Renato |last3=Anciäes |first3=Marina |title=Distribution, Abundance and Habitat Selection by Breeding Yellow-billed Terns (Sternula superciliaris), Large-Billed Terns (Phaetusa simplex) and Black Skimmers (Rynchops niger) in the Brazilian Amazon |journal=Waterbirds |date=December 2013 |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=470–481 |doi=10.1675/063.036.0404|s2cid=84904223 }} The yellow-billed tern breeds from August to December on sand banks and island beaches. Non-breeding season habitats include coastal lagoons, river mouths, and rice fields.Yellow-billed Tern (Sternula superciliaris), In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online: https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/yebter2 Their nests consist of shallow scrapes in the sand. Most commonly a clutch contains 2 eggs, but the yellow-billed tern can lay anywhere between 1–4 eggs.{{cite journal |last1=Lesterhuis |first1=Arne Jent |last2=Clay |first2=Robert P. |last3=Smith |first3=Paul |title=Status and distribution of the suborder Lari in Paraguay, including new country records |journal=Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia |date=1 November 2017 |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=128–136 |doi=10.1007/BF03544389 |s2cid=91002371 |url=http://www4.museu-goeldi.br/revistabrornito/revista/index.php/BJO/article/view/25209 |issn=2178-7875|doi-access=free }} The incubation period is approximately 24 days. Nests are usually formed very close to each other. Terns aggressively defend their nests from predators, and other species such as the sand-colored nighthawk (Chordeiles rupestris) have been known to nest among tern colonies to take advantage of this anti-predator behavior.{{cite journal |last1=Groom |first1=Martha J. |title=Sand-Colored Nighthawks Parasitize the Antipredator Behavior of Three Nesting Bird Species |journal=Ecology |date=June 1992 |volume=73 |issue=3 |pages=785–793 |doi=10.2307/1940157|jstor=1940157 |bibcode=1992Ecol...73..785G }}
Feeding
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1269049}}
Category:Birds described in 1819
Category:Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot
Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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