Jul 3, 2025
Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii) for National Audubon Society's Seabird Institute.
seen from Russia
seen from Senegal
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Türkiye
seen from Poland
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Maldives
seen from Taiwan
seen from Sri Lanka
seen from United States
seen from Australia
seen from Germany
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii) for National Audubon Society's Seabird Institute.
cuddly Roseate Terns!
Because female birds can lay eggs regardless of whether they are fertilized, however, each partner in a lesbian pair usually contributes a full clutch of eggs to their nest even if she hasn't mated with a male. As a result, female homosexual pairs often lay what are called supernormal clutches, that is, double the number of eggs usually found in nests of heterosexual pairs.¹⁰
10. Supernormal clutches have also been reported for pairs of male Emus, probably because more than one female has laid in their nest. What might be termed "subnormal" clutches – i.e., nests containing fewer eggs than are usually found for heterosexual pairs – are reported for female pairs of Blue Tits. And "super-supernormal" clutches occasionally occur in heterosexual pairs of Roseate Terns: as a result of within-species parasitism and possibly also egg transfer (see chapter 5 for more on these phenomena), some nests containing more than double the number of eggs found even in supernormal clutches (as it also true for "dump" nests in many Ducks and Geese).
"Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity" - Bruce Bagemihl
Pond Island Light, Kennebec River, Phippsburg, Maine. Until 1937, Pond Island hosted a colony of terns, but the growing gull population forced them to clear out. In 1960, when the light became automated, all the buildings, except the tower were removed. In '73 Care of the island was transferred from the Coast Guard to Fish and Wildlife to be re-established as a tern colony. Thanks to the help of National Audubon, tern decoys and calls were deployed, gull nests removed, and finally in '99 the first common tern chick in over 60 years hatched. Then in 2003, Pond Island recorded its first successful breeding pair of endangered roseate terns.
Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii) >>by Matthew Addicks
Roseate Tern (via USFWS Northeast)
Petit Manan Island, Maine Coastal Islands NWR. Summer with the Seabirds
blog: mainecoastalislands.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/terns/
Credit: Kirk Rogers/USFWS