Sandwich Tern

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The yellow-tipped bill serves as the key identification clue for the Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis), a medium sized tern that lives along the Southeast and Gulf of Mexico coastal areas.

The picture also shows an individual with spiky or crested head feathers, a physical feature common to a handful of tern species, which based on genetic studies, were recently placed within a separate tern genus, thalasseusa.

Genetic studies of terns continue, and some of the most recent research questions the categorization of the new world and old world Sandwich Tern populations as a single species. The studies suggests the North American species differ from the species that lives and breeds along the European, Mediterranean and African coastal areas.

© 2009 Patricia A. Michaels