| Terns
are slim and graceful waterbirds, quite similar to gulls. In
fact, both gulls and terns belong to the same family, Laridae,
although terns have their own subfamily, Sterninae. Three species
are found in Alaska—the arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea),
the Aleutian tern (S. aleutica), and the Caspian tern (S. caspia).
The arctic tern has the greatest breeding range of any Alaskan
water bird, nesting from Point Barrow through the Southeast
Panhandle and all points in between, including inland sites.
Arctic terns are also the champion migrators of the bird world.
Every year they make the 25,000-mile round-trip between their
breeding grounds in the north and their wintering grounds
in the antarctic.
Aleutian terns are less common. Strictly coastal birds, they
nest from Kotzebue Sound and the Norton Sound islands out
to the Aleutians, Kodiak, the Alaska Peninsula, and along
the southern coast to Dry Bay near Yakutat. Large numbers
have recently been nesting in the Copper River Delta. They
are believed to winter in the northwest Pacific, Japan, and
the Soviet Union.
Caspian terns are quite rare in Alaska, although in recent
years sightings have increased and there is now a small breeding
colony in the Copper River area. This species nests locally
in many areas across western North American and winters along
the southern California and Mexico coast.
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