Cabot's Tern

Thalasseus acuflavidus (Cabot, S, 1847)

Cabot's tern, Thalasseus acuflavidus, breeds along the coasts of North America, Middle America and South America, and spends the nonbreeding season on the Pacific shore from Mexico to Ecuador and the Atlantic shore from Florida to Uruguay. It is a coastal member of the gull, tern and skimmer family. The species is closely tied to warm waters and nests on open ground in places such as barrier islands, dredge spoil islands, sand cays and coral cays. Its bill is a key feature, with the nominate form showing black with a yellow tip and the southern form having a bill that is mostly or entirely yellow.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae — Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Breeding range

North America, Middle America, South America: coastal Virginia to s Texas, Caribbean, French Guiana, e Brazil and Argentina

Nonbreeding range

Pacific coast from Mexico to Ecuador; Atlantic coast from Florida to Uruguay