Cabot's tern
Appearance
Cabot's tern | |
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In non-breeding plumage, Venice Beach, Florida | |
Scientific classification | |
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Species: | T. sandvicensis
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Trinomial name | |
Thalasseus sandvicensis acuflavidus (Cabot, 1847)
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Cabot's tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis acuflavidus) is a bird in the family Sternidae sometimes separated from the Sandwich tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis). It has since been shown to be more closely related to the elegant tern (Thalasseus elegans).[1] The genus name is from Ancient Greek Thalasseus, "fisherman" from thalassa, "sea". The specific acuflavida is Latin from acus, "needle", and flavidus, "yellowish".[2] The IOC recognizes the bird as distinct, but most other taxonomists, including both committees of the AOU, consider it conspecific with the Sandwich tern.[3]
Distribution and subspecies
The species is widely distributed in the Americas.
There are two subspecies:
- T. a. acuflavidus (Cabot, 1847) − eastern North America to southern Caribbean.
- T. a. eurygnathus (Saunders, 1876) − Cayenne tern, islands off Venezuela and the Guianas, northern and eastern South America.
Gallery
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South of Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
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From the Crossley ID Guide Eastern Birds
References
- ^ "Coursers, noddies, gulls, terns, auks and sandgrouse". International Ornithological Congress. Retrieved 2015-01-11.
- ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 31, 383. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ "57th supplement of the AOU". American Ornithologists Union. Retrieved 2016-09-07.