Elegant Tern

Thalasseus elegans (Gambel, 1849)

Elegant Tern, Thalasseus elegans, breeds along the Pacific coast of southern California and western Mexico, including the Gulf of California, and spends the non-breeding season on the eastern Pacific coast from northern California to central Chile. It is a tern in the family Laridae. Breeding takes place in very dense colonies on coasts and islands, with sites recorded at Isla Rasa, Montague Island, South Bay Salt Works and Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. It is a Pacific species that has also turned up as a vagrant in western Europe and South Africa.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae — Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Breeding range

North America, Middle America: coastal e Pacific of sw California and Baja California and Gulf of California (nw Mexico)

Nonbreeding range

to coastal e Pacific from n California to c Chile