Listen to the black tern
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the black tern
The black tern is a bird in the family Laridae (order Charadriiformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults have a wingspan of about 54 cm and weigh around 60 g.
What does the black tern sound like?
Most birds have two kinds of vocalisation: songs, which are learned or innate phrases delivered mainly in spring and summer, and calls – brief contact, alarm and begging notes heard all year round. Listening for both helps with identification.
The recordings here are labelled as call and alarm call. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The black tern (Chlidonias niger) is a small tern generally found in or near inland water that breeds in Europe, Western Asia and North America. In winter the birds migrate to coastal areas of Africa and South America.
More from the family Laridae
Black-headed gull
Chroicocephalus ridibundus
European herring gull
Larus argentatus
Common tern
Sterna hirundo
Common gull
Larus canus
Lesser black-backed gull
Larus fuscus
Arctic tern
Sterna paradisaea
Caspian tern
Hydroprogne caspia
Black-legged kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla
Gull-billed tern
Gelochelidon nilotica
Great black-backed gull
Larus marinus
Sandwich tern
Thalasseus sandvicensis
Yellow-legged gull
Larus michahellis
Frequently asked questions
What does a black tern sound like?
You can hear 5 recordings of the black tern on this page, including its call and alarm call. Most birds have two kinds of vocalisation: songs, which are learned or innate phrases delivered mainly in spring and summer, and calls – brief contact, alarm and begging notes heard all year round.
Is the black tern endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the black tern as “least concern”.
What family does the black tern belong to?
The black tern (Chlidonias niger) belongs to the family Laridae in the order Charadriiformes.
Sources & credits
- Call · Glacial Lakes State Park, Pope County, Minnesota, United… by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call · Glacial Lakes State Park, Pope County, Minnesota, United… by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call · Glacial Lakes State Park, Pope County, Minnesota, United… by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call · Glacial Lakes State Park, Pope County, Minnesota, United… by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Alarm call · Glacial Lakes State Park, Pope County, Minnesota, United… by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q27215 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Black tern – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Andrej Chudý from Slovakia – CC BY-SA 2.0