Family: Laridae, Gulls and Terns view all from this family

Description 8-10" (20-25 cm). A very small tern with a black-tipped yellow bill and a fast, shallow wingbeat. White with black cap, pale gray back and wings, and forked tail; white forehead.

Endangered Status The Least Tern is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is classified as endangered in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas. The California subspecies (the California Least Tern) was the first to be declared endangered, in 1970, but the interior and east coast populations have since also achieved that distinction. The destruction of its habitat by human activities and development has put the species in peril. Where it still finds nesting habitat, it is also vulnerable to predators and to human disturbance when bathers and beach strollers enter its nesting colonies. Least Terns will sometimes abandon their nests if they have been disturbed. Because of this tern's habit of nesting on low sandbars, whole colonies are sometimes destroyed by very high tides.

Habitat Sandy and pebbly beaches along the coast; sandbars in large rivers. Often on landfill.

Nesting 2 or 3 buff, lightly spotted eggs in an unlined scrape on a sand spit or gravel beach. Nests in colonies.

Range Breeds along California coast, along rivers in Mississippi Valley, and coastally from Maine south to Florida. Winters from Baja California south to southern Mexico; also along coasts of South America.

Voice   Sharp killick or kip-kip-kip-kiddeek.

Discussion Most often seen hovering over the water, the Least Tern peers downward in search of small minnows and other marine or freshwater organisms.