Endangerd Species of Bird: The Roseate Tern
Endangerd Species of Bird: The Roseate Tern
Like many other species the Roseate Tern is also endangered. These creatures are some of the world’s most beautiful animals and are slowly being killed by man and nature. The Roseate Tern somewhat resembles a sea gull with a slender body and short reddish legs. They have pointed wings and long streamer tails, like the streamer on a kite. Their bodies are a pale gray and are white with a pink tinge on their underside in the early breeding season. This tinge however, is not a good way to tell if a bird is the Roseate Tern since the sun can bleach the colors out. They also have a black forehead and nape. Their upper wings are gray and have distinctly forked wings like that of a swallow. Their wingspan is about 72-80 centimeters and they weigh about 100-120 grams, which is slightly smaller that a mourning dove would be. Both male and female birds are similar in appearance; the only way to tell is that the male that isn’t breeding has a mixed black and white head.
These bird life in quiet areas and live in small colonies. Areas where they can hide easily are taken advantage of. Places with things like dense grasses or other vegetation are the most common nesting sites. If these birds are disturbed in their nesting area, they will most likely abandon the site where their eggs are laid and predators will eat them. The most common areas where these nesting sites are found are in tropical areas such as the Indian, Pacific, Atlantic Oceans, South Africa and Western Australia. They can also like in the hotter areas of North America and Europe.
The birds’ population was first dramatically changed in the 1980s when they were hunted for feathers. Due to hunting the population become about 2000 pairs in total. In the 1930s that grew to 10500 due to protective legislation to prevent further damage to the threatened species. Around 1950 again the population went down to only 3800, this time it was due to loss of habitat where the birds had a hard time finding quite nested areas. There are about 50 00 pairs in the world at this time but the population is still gradually decreasing, from both Human disturbance...