Cabot's tern

Cabot's tern (Thalasseus acuflavidus) is a species of bird in subfamily Sterninae of the family Laridae, the gulls, terns, and skimmers.[1] It is found in the eastern U.S. and Middle America, the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago, and in every mainland South American country except Boliva and Paraguay.[1][2]

Cabot's tern
In non-breeding plumage, Venice Beach, Florida
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae
Genus: Thalasseus
Species:
T. acuflavidus
Binomial name
Thalasseus acuflavidus
(Cabot, S, 1847)
Synonyms
  • Thalasseus sandvicensis acuflavidus
  • Thalasseus acuflavidus
  • Thalasseus sandvicensis eurygnatha

Taxonomy and systematics

Cabot's tern was long placed in genus Sterna but since the early 2000s has been in its present genus Thalasseus.[3] Its further taxonomy is not settled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) follows Efe et al. in part[4] and treats it as a species with two subspecies, the nominate T. a. acuflavidus (Cabot, S, 1847) and T. a. eurygnathus (Saunders, 1876).[1] The American Ornithological Society and the Clements taxonomy have not accepted Efe et al. and treat those two taxa as subspecies of the sandwich tern (T. sandvicensis).[5][6][7] BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) follows a different conclusion of Efe et al. than the IOC by merging eurygnathus into acuflavidus but treats the merged taxon as one of two subspecies of the sandwich tern.[8]

Some authors treat subspecies T. a. eurygnathus as a separate species, the "Cayenne tern" but this has not been generally accepted.[6]

The genus Thalasseus is Ancient Greek for "fisherman", derived from thalassa, "sea". The specific epithet acuflavidus is from Latin acus, "needle", and flavidus, "yellowish".[9]

Description

Cabot's tern is a member of the "crested tern" group. It is 34 to 45 cm (13 to 18 in) long with a wingspan of about 1.0 m (3 ft). The nominate subspecies T. a. acuflavidus weighs 175 to 202 g (6.2 to 7.1 oz). The Caribbean population of T. a. eurygnathus weighs 170 to 210 g (6.0 to 7.4 oz) and the far southern population 250 to 300 g (8.8 to 11 oz). The sexes have the same plumage and there is little difference in plumage between the subspecies. Adults in breeding plumage have a black cap and a mostly white body with a pale gray back and sometimes a rosy flush on the underparts. Their tail is forked and white. The upper side of their wing is mostly pale gray with darker primaries. Their legs and feet are all black or black with yellow soles and their iris is dark brown to black. Non-breeding adults have a white forehead and mid-crown; their crest is black. The subspecies differ mainly in bill color: The nominate's is black with a yellow tip of somewhat variable extent; that of T. a. eurygnathus is mostly to completely yellow.[10]

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of Cabot's tern breeds on the U.S. coast from Chesapeake Bay south and around the Gulf of Mexico to Belize, and on the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and other Caribbean islands. It winters in southern Florida and the entire Gulf and Caribbean coasts, the Antilles, and in South America commonly in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru though a few go as far south as Chile or east in northern Brazil. Subspecies T. a. eurygnathus is mostly a year-round resident from the north coast of South America and the islands near it south along the coast of Brazil to northern Argentina; a few breed as far north as Puerto Rico.[10]

Cabot's tern is wholly a coastal species, and favors warm water. During the breeding season it inhabits barrier islands, dredge spoil islands, and in the Caribbean low-lying sand or coral cays. It generally uses bare ground but will nest on prostrate vegetation or mats of purslane (Sporobolus virginianus). It overwinters on sand beaches and sandbars, barrier islands, and reefs along coasts and also along the Panama Canal and short distances up rivers that empty into salt water.[10]

Behavior

Migration

Cabot's tern is partially migratory, withdrawing from the northernmost part of its breeding range for winter. Its migratory routes are not known in detail but are believed to follow coasts. Fall migration is protracted and spring's is more rapid. Birds that overwinter on the Pacific coast of South America apparently cross from the Caribbean at the Isthmus of Panama. A few banded individuals of subspecies T. a. acuflavidus have wandered to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.[10]

Feeding

Cabot's tern is a powerful flyer, and feeds almost exclusively by plunge-diving from up to 7 m (25 ft) high. It sometimes goes completely under water in its dive. It often forages in small flocks and usually within 2 km (1 mi) of shore, though it apparently goes further out from the Texas shore. Its diet is mostly fish, with members of families Ammodytidae, Atherinopsidae, Clupeidae, Engraulidae, and Sciaenidae identified as prey. It eats smaller amounts of squid, shrimp, and insects.[10]

Breeding

Cabot's terns apparently court and form pairs during spring migration before reaching the nesting grounds. Males make display flights or posture on the ground. The species nests in areas with sparse or no vegetation. The nest is a simple scrape made by both sexes; they may add a few pieces of shell or seaweed. The typical clutch size is one egg though two are not uncommon. The incubation period is about 24 days in the north and averages about 29 days in the far south. Both sexes incubate, and apparently share the duty equally after the first few days. Chicks are semi-precocial and can thermoregulate about five days after hatch. They depend on the parents for food; both parents provide it until fledging and usually the female alone after that. Nest defense is shared equally. Fledging occurs about 27 to 29 days after hatch.[10]

Vocalization

As of early 2023 xeno-canto had three recordings of Cabot's tern from the U.S. and one from Mexico among the very many of sandwich tern sensu stricto. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library had more. The species' main call has been described as kerr-ick, kjerr-it, keerik, and kreejik.[10][11][12] It has a variety of other calls as well.[10]

Status

The IUCN follows HBW taxonomy and so has not assessed Cabot's tern separately from the sandwich tern sensu lato. Disturbance of nesting colonies by humans appears to be the major threat to the species as a whole.[13]

References
  1. Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P., eds. (January 2023). "Noddies, skimmers, gulls, terns, skuas, auks". IOC World Bird List. v 13.1. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
  2. Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. 30 January 2023. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved January 30, 2023
  3. Bridge, Eli S.; Jones, Andrew W.; Baker, Allan J. (2005). "A phylogenetic framework for the terns (Sternini) inferred from mtDNA sequences: implications for taxonomy and plumage evolution". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 35 (2): 459–469. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.12.010. PMID 15804415.
  4. Efe, M.A.; Tavares, E.S.; Baker, A.J.; Bonatto, S.L. (2009). "Multigene phylogeny and DNA barcoding indicate that the Sandwich Tern complex (Thalasseus sandvicensis, Laridae, Sternini) comprises two species". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 52 (1): 263–267. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.03.030. PMID 19348954.
  5. Chesser, R. T., S. M. Billerman, K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, B. E. Hernández-Baños, R. A. Jiménez, A. W. Kratter, N. A. Mason, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., D. F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2022. Check-list of North American Birds (online). American Ornithological Society. https://checklist.aou.org/taxa Archived 2020-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 30 January 2023. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved January 30, 2023
  7. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 10, 2022
  8. HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip retrieved December 13, 2022
  9. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 31, 383. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  10. Shealer, D., J. S. Liechty, A. R. Pierce, P. Pyle, and M. A. Patten (2020). Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.santer1.01 retrieved February 16, 2023
  11. Sibley, David Allen (2003). Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America. New York: Chanticleer Press. p. 193. ISBN 0-679-45120-X.
  12. van Perlo, Ber (2009). A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-19-530155-7.
  13. BirdLife International (2019). "Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T22694591A154517364. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22694591A154517364.en. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
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