The Peruvian tern (''Sternula lorata'') is a species of

tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists of e ...

in the family Laridae. Found in northern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are hot

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

s, sandy shores, and coastal saline

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. In Spanish, it is known as the "charrancito Peruano" or "gaviotín chico".

Description

The Peruvian tern is a very small species with a length of about . The upper half of the head and neck are black, and the remaining part of the head is white. The back, wings and tail are grey, the throat, chin and breast are white, and the chest, belly and flanks are pale grey. The under tail-coverts are white. The bill is yellow with a black tip, the irises are brown and the legs are yellowish. The pale grey underparts differentiate it from other small terns. It has a very rapid and characteristic wingbeat. The call is a shrill "kik" and a harsh "gree", and it also utters a descending series of "kee-ee-eer" notes.

Distribution

This species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the tropical west coast of South America. Its range extends from north and central Ecuador, through Peru to northern Chile, as far south as the

Mejillones Peninsula Mejillones Peninsula ( es, península de Mejillones) protrudes from the coast of northern Chile north of Antofagasta and south of the port of Mejillones. The basement rocks of the peninsula are made of metamorphic and igneous rocks that formed i ...

. Its status in Ecuador is unclear and in Peru it is known from four confirmed sites, breeding at the back of the beach in association with wetlands. There are nine known sites in Chile, all in the vicinity of

Mejillones Mejillones is a Chilean port city and commune in Antofagasta Province in the Antofagasta Region. Its name is the plural form of the Spanish meaning "mussel", referring to a particularly abundant species and preferred staple food of its indigeno ...

, and at all of these the birds breed a little inland in the desert. There may be other breeding sites that have yet to be discovered, and some sites have not been revisited since they were recorded many years ago.Peruvian Tern ''Sternula lorata''
BirdLife Species Factsheet. Downloaded on 16 September 2015

Ecology

The diet has been observed to include the

Peruvian anchoveta The Peruvian anchoveta (''Engraulis ringens'') is a species of fish of the anchovy family, Engraulidae, from the Southeast Pacific Ocean. It has yielded greater catches than any other single wild fish species in the world, with annual harvests ...

(''Engraulis ringens''), the

Atlantic saury The Atlantic saury (''Scomberesox saurus'') is a fish of the family Scomberesocidae found in the North Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Canada south to Bermuda and North Carolina in the western Atlantic and from Iceland to Morocco ...

(''Scomberesox saurus''), the

Peruvian silverside ''Odontesthes regia'' is a fish belonging to the family Atherinopsidae, commonly referred to in English as Chilean silverside, Peruvian silverside or sea silverside, and in Spanish as pejerrey or pejerrey de mar. This is an epipelagic species d ...

(''Odontesthes regia'') and the mote sculpin (''Normanichthys crockeri''). Breeding takes place between August and February but is mostly concentrated between October and January. The nests are widely separated in loose colonies of up to twenty-five pairs. They are often found near coastal wetlands and lagoons where the birds forage. Some birds nest on beaches and dunes one to two hundred metres inland from the high tide mark, but others nest one or more kilometres inland on sandy plains. One or two eggs form a clutch, and both eggs and chicks are well-camouflaged to avoid detection. After breeding, the birds leave the coast and may move out to sea. In

El Niño El Niño (; ; ) is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and is associated with a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific (approximately between the International Date L ...

years, they are also absent from the shore, do not make any attempt to breed and probably remain at sea.

Status

The total number of Peruvian terns is estimated to be in the range 1,000 to 2,499 individuals. The number seems to be declining, and in 2007 it was suggested that there were only half as many birds as there had been ten years earlier. Because of the small population size and the decrease in numbers of individuals,

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

has assessed the bird's conservation status as being "

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

". The Chilean Ornithologist Jürgen Rottmann is the director of The Gaviotín Chico Sustainability Foundation which has successfully rallied the local community school students, councilmen and the mining industry, to protect the nesting habitad of this bird at the

from stray dogs and other predators that exacerbate human-caused decline. The strategies used include labeling and fencing of the nesting sites, translocation of predators and the use of decoy

Japanese quail The Japanese quail (''Coturnix japonica''), also known as the coturnix quail, is a species of Old World quail found in East Asia. First considered a subspecies of the common quail, it is now considered as a separate species. The Japanese quail ...

eggs.

References

External links

''Sternula lorata''
Catalogue of Life *(in Spanish
Gaviotín Chico Sustainability Foundation
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1267945

Peruvian tern The Peruvian tern (''Sternula lorata'') is a species of tern in the family Laridae. Found in northern Chile, Ecuador, and Peru, its natural habitats are hot deserts, sandy shores, and coastal saline lagoons. It is threatened by habitat loss. In ...

Birds of Ecuador Birds of Peru

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot