Elegant Tern

Thalasseus elegans

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered

KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
PhylumChordata (Cordats)
ClassAves (Aus)
OrderCharadriiformes (Caradriformes)
FamilyLaridae (Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers)
GenusThalasseus (Crested Terns)
SpeciesThalasseus elegans (Elegant Tern)

Insufficient data

overall probability at Carara National Park

4 Verified records at Carara National Park

☀️ Diurnal When it's active during daytime hours (6am–6pm)

The elegant tern (Thalasseus elegans) is a tern in the family Laridae. It breeds on the Pacific coast of southern California in the United States and western Mexico, and migrates south to Peru, Ecuador and Chile for the northern winter; in the late summer and fall, some also disperse north to Oregon and more rarely Washington. This species breeds in very dense colonies on coasts and islands, including Isla Rasa and Montague Island in Mexico, as well as South Bay Salt Works (San Diego) and Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in California. Exceptionally, vagrants can occur inland on suitable large freshwater lakes. The elegant tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, almost invariably from the sea, like most Thalasseus terns. It usually dives directly, and not from the "stepped-hover" favored by the Arctic tern. Wikipedia →

Closest Relatives at Carara National Park

Thalasseus acuflavidus

Insufficient data

Thalasseus maximus

<5% · Rare

Thalasseus sandvicensis

<5% · Rare

Larus heermanni

Insufficient data

Leucophaeus atricilla

Rynchops niger

Leucophaeus pipixcan

Hydroprogne caspia

Sterna hirundo

Gelochelidon nilotica

Insufficient data

Actitis macularius

10–20% · With luck

Numenius hudsonicus

5–10% · With luck

See all 12 relatives Show fewer

📅 Monthly Probability

📊

Fewer than 5 records of Elegant Tern at Carara National Park — not enough to chart months honestly.

☀️ When They're Spotted

Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)

☀️Diurnal

Global Distribution

Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.

where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there

Parks Where Found

#	Park	Country	Probability
1	Paracas National Reserve	🇵🇪 Peru	40–50%
2	Channel Islands National Park	🇺🇸 United States	20–30%
3	Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	5–10%
4	Bahía de Loreto National Park	🇲🇽 Mexico	5–10%
5	Las Baulas Marine National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	5–10%
6	Machalilla National Park	🇪🇨 Ecuador	5–10%
7	Santa Rosa National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
8	El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	<5%
9	Ostional Wildlife Refuge	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
10	Marino Ballena National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
11	Corcovado National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
12	Piedras Blancas National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	<5%
13	Redwood National Park	🇺🇸 United States	<5%
14	Cumbres de Monterrey National Park	🇲🇽 Mexico	<5%
15	Galápagos Islands	🇪🇨 Ecuador	<5%
16	Table Mountain National Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	Insufficient data
17	Utría National Natural Park	🇨🇴 Colombia	Insufficient data
18	Coiba National Park	🇵🇦 Panama	Insufficient data
19	Manuel Antonio National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	Insufficient data
20	Palo Verde National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	Insufficient data
21	Carara National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	Insufficient data
22	Namib-Naukluft National Park	🇳🇦 Namibia	Insufficient data
23	Tortuguero National Park	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	Insufficient data
24	Olympic National Park	🇺🇸 United States	Insufficient data
25	Soberanía National Park	🇵🇦 Panama	Insufficient data

← Back to Carara National Park

Elegant Tern

Closest Relatives at Carara National Park

Cabot's Tern

Royal Tern

Sandwich Tern

Heermann's Gull

Laughing Gull

Black Skimmer

Franklin's Gull

Caspian Tern

Common Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Spotted Sandpiper

Hudsonian Whimbrel

📅 Monthly Probability

☀️ When They're Spotted

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found