Inca Tern

About the Inca Tern

The Inca tern (Larosterna inca) is a near-threatened species of tern in the subfamily Sterninae of the family Laridae (the gulls, terns, and skimmers). It is found along the Pacific coasts of Chile, Ecuador and Perú, and has appeared as a vagrant in Central America and Hawaii.

The Inca tern is the sole member of its monotypic genus Larosterna, and has no accepted subspecies. Perhaps surprisingly given its highly distinct plumage, the Inca tern is not particularly basal among the terns, being more closely related to typical Sterna terns than any of the superficially much more similar genera Gelochelidon, Hydroprogne, Onychoprion, Phaetusa, or Sternula are.

The Inca tern is roughly 39 to 42 cm (15 to 17 in) long and weighs between 180 to 210 g (6.3 to 7.4 oz). Its plumage is uniquely colored among terns; adults have a mostly dark, slate-gray body, with paler underwing coverts, and a slightly paler throat. A white stripe extends back from the base of the bill and fans out like a Salvador Dalíesque mustache as long, satiny feathers along the side of the neck. The trailing edge of the wing (the tips of the secondaries and the three inner... Wikipedia →