Royal Tern courtship behavior – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 200mm, natural light. In 1996, 18 of 365 pairs (5%) of Common Terns nesting at a Lake Ontario colony laid second clutches while caring for first-brood nestlings; no second clutches were recorded during four previous breeding seasons at this location. Courtship involves both aerial and ground displays, including High Flights (in which a pair spirals to 30-100 m above ground and then glides down), Low Flights (in which a fish-carrying male is chased by a female), Parading (circling on ground), and Scraping.
The male common tern presents a fish to his lover; the male roadrunner, a lizard. 2–4). Males feed females during courtship and early incubation. This is a medium-sized tern, 34-37 cm long with a 70-80 cm wingspan. I987 TERN PARENTAL CARE 535 0.8 L 3 2 0.6 a L Q a, c e G a 0.4 D 0.2 14 12 t I I I I I I Pre-lay Egg 2-3 I 3 5 7 9 Egg 1-2 Stage of clutch Figure 1. Premating displays are accompanied by the male tern … The Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. The temporary reduction of clutch size, egg size and breeding success of the Common Tern during the breeding period of 1983 at the Lower Saxonian Wadden Sea (West Germany) was correlated with heavy rainfalls on the days preceding egg-laying (Figs. During courtship males kick small depressions in the sand called scrapes. These medium-sized gulls breed in colonies on islands and levees in lakes and rivers. The Common Tern is In this paper, we assess the nature of the relationship between courtship feeding and copulatory behaviour in the Common Tern Sterna hirundo. This bird has a circumpolar distribution breeding in temperate and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia and east and central North America.It is strongly migratory, wintering in the subtropical and tropical oceans.It is sometimes known as the sea swallow. Numbers following the 2-3-egg period represent the days after clutch completion. The Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) rarely produces more than one brood per breeding cycle. It is strongly migratory, wintering in coastal tropical and subtropical regions.

During courtship, which begins in April, male terns establish their territories at the colony before beginning what is called "courtship feeding," in which males bring fish to the females as a way of courting them. The common tern [2] (Sterna hirundo) is a seabird in the family Laridae.This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. Once courtship feeding acts to induce copulation in some, but not all, larids. Upon their return to breeding grounds in April and May, both common tern and piping plover males set up and defend nesting territories.