Gulls & Terns

Caspian Tern

Raubseeschwalbe

Hydroprogne caspia

Gulls & Terns11 photosFirst seen: 9 July 2026

The Caspian Tern is the world's largest tern and has a heavy red bill and a shallowly forked tail. It occurs on large lakes, estuaries and coasts across much of the world. The bird flies over open water and plunge-dives for fish. It breeds in colonies on islands, beaches and other open ground. Juveniles may remain dependent on their parents for several months, including during migration.

ID tip: Huge coral-red bill and dark undersides to the primary tips rule out the smaller, orange-billed Royal Tern and any of the slender Sterna terns.

First seen: 9 July 2026 · Union Bay Natural Area · 11 photos in the collection.

Places in my records

Locations where this species is supported by a dated first record, an unambiguous single-place outing or a reviewed assignment.

Discovery Park18 July 2026 Union Bay Natural Area9 July 2026

Family: Gulls & Terns (Laridae)
Length: 48–56 cm
Wingspan: 127–140 cm
Regional status: Summer visitor (Pacific Northwest, USA)
Conservation: Least Concern LCIUCN Red List · retrieved 27 August 2026
Habitat: Estuaries, large lakes, river mouths, sandy islands
Diet: Almost exclusively fish

Built from verified occurrence records, not drawn by hand. Core range = the countries holding 99% of all records; the rest are scattered or vagrant records. Record counts track where people watch birds as much as where the birds are, so the map shows presence, not abundance. Data: GBIF (CC BY 4.0). Basemap: Natural Earth.

Selected photographs

Complete photo archiveAll 11 published photographs of this species, including the selected main gallery.Open all 11 photos in the archive →