Yellow-billed Tern (Sternula superciliaris) Dutch text English text Vogels in Suriname/Birds in Suriname




Pictures (click on them to enlarge)
Sternula superciliaris, Yellow-billed Tern, Gaviota Pico Amarillo, Trinta-réis-anão by Rob en Mieke Strucker Luitwieler
© Rob en Mieke Strucker Luitwieler

Sternula superciliaris, Yellow-billed Tern, Gaviota Pico Amarillo, Trinta-réis-anão by Erik Toorman
Coronie © Erik Toorman

Sternula superciliaris, Yellow-billed Tern, Gaviota Pico Amarillo, Trinta-réis-anão by Klaas de Jong
© Klaas de Jong

Sternula superciliaris, Yellow-billed Tern, Gaviota Pico Amarillo, Trinta-réis-anão by Klaas de Jong
© Klaas de Jong

   



Photo of a group of Yellow-billed terns made by Erik Toorman in Coronie in October 2010. In the foreground also two very black Skimmers, clearly much larger. Terns are difficult to identify: The Large-billed Tern also has a (larger) yellow bill, but it also has a lot of black on its wings. And the Yellow-billed tern also resembles the Least Tern (in breeding outfit), but this last one has a bill that is more orange, and a black stripe on the forewing. But I wait for a better picture, this tern is common along the coast and can also be found more inland, along major rivers.
Dominiek Plouvier made a video with some Yellow-billed Terns and Turnstones and a Dowitcher.



Video (click the link or the 'play'-button to see)
Video recording of a
Yellow-billed Tern
© ;
   


Distribution




Each small square indicates the observation of at least one (group) of these birds, the medium ones at least four observations on different days and the largest ones ten or more. The color of each square indicates: blue for coastal area, yellow for savanna and red for rainforest.
Not all places in Suriname have been equally often visited by birders, so the distribution of the squares gives an indication of the whereabouts of the birds, but also of the birders. Some places deep in the south have no reported bird observations, by experienced birders, within 60 kilometer.

Abundance in different areas
coastal zone (blue dots on the map) :
northern savannas (yellow dots (in the north)) :
rainforest under 400 m (red dots) :
rainforest above 400 m (red dots) :
Sipaliwini savanna (yellow dots (in the south)) :

A blank is shown if not convincingly reported in the zone.
Data interpreted by Arie Spaans, Otte Ottema and Jan Hein Ribot.



Names
Scientific name: Sternula superciliaris
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae, 18 in Suriname
Dutch: Amazonestern
English: Yellow-billed Tern
Sranan ('Surinamese'):
Guyana:
Papiamento:
Spanish (Venezuela): Gaviota Pico Amarillo
Portugese (Brazil): Trinta-réis-anão
Arowak:
Carib:
French: Sterne argentée


Observations through the year Observations of breeding through the year
The 180 reported observations of this bird in Suriname, mainly for the last 50 years up to 2018, have been grouped by month. More birds on one day are counted as one observation. Of course, if the graph should depict the total number of birds seen, the differences between the months could be much more pronounced. The reported breeding observations of this bird in Suriname. Most observations are about nest with eggs, some about fledglings, or feeding at a nest or the building of a nest.

Of the about 5000 nests and eggs found for all species together, about 1/3 comes from the egg collection of Penard between 1896 and 1905. For some reason most collecting then was done in the first half of each year, so the shown distribution does not necessarily reflect the actual breeding preferences.
The main dry season in Suriname is reckoned to be from half August to the end of November, the main wet season from half April to half August, but the the timing of begin and end does vary from year to year. Around March a second dry season often occurs.


Fatbirder's Top 1000 Birding Websites Last update: September 2024 by Jan Hein Ribot. Please mail your comments, photos to: jhribot ( residing at ) gmail (point!) com.
observations can be uploaded to suriname.observation.org or ebird.org ).