Aleutian Tern

Onychoprion aleuticus (Baird, SF, 1869)

Aleutian Tern, Onychoprion aleuticus, breeds on North Pacific coasts from Sakhalin, the Sea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka through the Aleutian Islands to south-west Alaska, and moves to coastal areas from Thailand and the Philippines to northern New Guinea, Indonesia, southern Malaysia, Singapore and northern New South Wales. It is a migratory seabird in the gull and tern family. It is often linked with the Arctic Tern, but its white forehead sets it apart, and in the breeding season its bill, feet and legs are black.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae — Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Breeding range

Palearctic, North America: North Pacific coasts from Sakhalin, Sea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka through Aleutian Is., and w to sw Alaska

Nonbreeding range

to coastal Thailand, Philippines, n New Guinea, Indonesia, s Malaysia and Singapore, and n NSW (ec Australia); migrates along w North Pacific coast via Japan, Korean Pen., e China, and Taiwan