AI reconstruction created with Nano Banana 2 · 1K, grounded in the profile’s documented taxonomy, habitat, natural-history sources, and an open-license visual reference when available. It is an interpretive image, not documentary evidence. Image policy →

Verified source photographMatt FelperinCC-BY · View source ↗

PRB-0160Charadriiformes

Roseate Tern

Charrán Rosado

Sterna dougallii

Native / natural occurrenceIUCN LC · Least Concern

The roseate tern (Sterna dougallii) is a species of tern in the family Laridae. The genus name Sterna is derived from Old English "stearn", "tern", and the specific dougallii refers to Scottish physician and collector Dr Peter McDougall (1777–1814). "Roseate" refers to the bird's pink breast in breeding plumage.

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FamilyLaridaeGulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Puerto Rico occurrenceNative / natural occurrenceAvibase inferred core 380

Primary habitatOffshore cays; sandy/rocky nesting islands; marine feeding watersOffshore cays; sandy/rocky nesting islands; marine feeding waters

Primary dietFishAquatic predator

Average mass114.33333333333333 gGlobal trait estimate

MovementMigratory; Long-distance dispersalAerial

Sound archive

Hear its voice

Explore real songs and calls. The spectrogram turns each sound into a visual trace of time and frequency.

XC1042803Recording 1 of 3alarm call, flight call

SpectrogramSterna dougallii

0:000:14

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Sound recorded by Sonothèque ADVL · XC1042803 · CC0 1.0. Visualization by Stichting Xeno-canto voor Natuurgeluiden.

Every recording retains the creator, catalogue number, and license published by Xeno-canto. Metadata via GBIF ↗

Island profile

Catalog scopeAvibase inferred core 380

About the Roseate Tern

Conservation

Least Concern

IUCN LC; DNER VU; ESA Threatened

Global IUCN: LC
Puerto Rico DNER: VU
Federal ESA: Threatened
Critical habitat: No in cited 2026 table

Natural history

How it lives

Habitat: Offshore cays; sandy/rocky nesting islands; marine feeding waters
Elevation: 0–18 m
Nest: Scrape · Ground; Rock
Clutch: 1–2 eggs
Social behavior: Colonial

Keep exploring

This bird belongs to 11 paths through the atlas.

The complete catalogAll Birds of Puerto Rico402 birds →Birds by habitatCliff & Cave Birds13 birds →Birds by habitatCoastal Birds62 birds →Birds by habitatSeabirds & Open-Ocean Birds41 birds →ConservationBirds with Critical Habitat in Puerto Rico10 birds →ConservationFederally Listed Birds14 birds →ConservationLeast Concern Birds328 birds →ConservationPuerto Rico DNER-Listed Birds28 birds →Occurrence in Puerto RicoBreeding Birds55 birds →Occurrence in Puerto RicoMigrants & Vagrants221 birds →Bird familyGulls, Terns, and Skimmers (Laridae)28 birds →

Evidence trail

Sources, media & further reading

eBird species profile↗Macaulay Library media↗iNaturalist observations↗GBIF occurrence data↗BirdLife species factsheet↗Xeno-canto recordings↗Wikipedia in English↗Wikipedia en Español↗Media source · inaturalist.org↗Source record 1↗Source record 2↗Source record 3↗Source record 4↗Source record 5↗

Research note: Federal status in Puerto Rico is threatened for nominate subspecies/Western Hemisphere population outside northeastern U.S. endangered population