Species Fact Profile: Inca Tern (Larosterna inca)

Inca Tern

Larosterna inca (Lesso, 1827)

Range: Pacific Coast of South America (Northern Peru to Central Chile)
Habitat: Coastlines, Cliffs, Islands
Diet: Small Fish, Carrion
Social Grouping: Flocks up to 100 Birds
Reproduction: Courtship displays include cackling, bowing, and aerial displays.  1-2 brown, speckled eggs are laid in a burrow, cave, or crevice (sometimes old Humboldt penguin nests).  They are incubated for about 4 weeks; chicks fledge at 7 weeks.  Both parents incubate the eggs and care for the chicks
Lifespan: 25 Years
Conservation Status: IUCN Near Threatened

• Body length 14-22 inches, weight 170-210 grams
• Plumage is charcoal gray with a black cap, black primary feathers, and a bright red bill and legs.  Long white "mustaches" curl down from the base of the bill in adult birds.  Small yellow patch of bare skin at the base of the beak
• Do not migrate, but will disperse widely during El Nino years in search of prey
• Have been reported to snatch scraps of fish right from the mouths of sea lions (also reported to be predated by sea lions)
• Harvesting of seabird guano has reduced the availability of natural nest sites, but Inca terns are adaptable and readily use artificial nest sites, such as abandoned buildings.  More pressing threats are the depletion of food stocks due to overfishing and the introduction of rats and cats to some of the islands where they breed