| Taxa: |
| Order: |
| Family: |
| Aves |
| Charadriiformes |
| Laridae |
| NatureServe Global Rank: |
| NatureServe State (NC) Rank: |
| G5 |
| S4B,S4N |
| Federal Status: |
| NC State Status: |
| --- |
| --- |
| Land Unit |
| US Fish & Wildlife Service |
| US Forest Service |
| US National Park Service |
| US Department of Defense |
| NC State Parks |
| NC University System |
| NC Wildlife Res. Com. |
| NC Forest Service |
| NC Div. of Coastal Mgmt. |
| Local Governments |
| Non-Governmental Org. |
| Other Public Lands |
| Private Lands |
| GAP Status 1-2 |
| All Protected Lands |
| Statewide |
| Hectares |
| 915.21 |
| 4.59 |
| 614.70 |
| 5,149.35 |
| 635.85 |
| 0.00 |
| 34.74 |
| 0.00 |
| 438.66 |
| 0.00 |
| 98.64 |
| 0.36 |
| 9,794.25 |
| 4,309.92 |
| 7,868.07 |
| 17,686.35 |
| Acres |
| 2,261.53 |
| 11.34 |
| 1,518.96 |
| 12,724.32 |
| 1,571.22 |
| 0.00 |
| 85.84 |
| 0.00 |
| 1,083.95 |
| 0.00 |
| 243.74 |
| 0.89 |
| 24,202.11 |
| 10,650.04 |
| 19,442.42 |
| 43,703.91 |
| % of Dist. on |
| Prot. Lands |
| 11.6 % |
| < 0.1 % |
| 7.5 % |
| 65.4 % |
| 8.1 % |
| 0.0 % |
| 0.4 % |
| 0.0 % |
| 5.6 % |
| 1.3 % |
| 1.3 % |
| < 0.1 % |
| 0.0 % |
| 54.8 % |
| ----- |
| ----- |
| % of Dist. on |
| All Lands |
| 5.2 % |
| < 0.1 % |
| 3.5 % |
| 29.1 % |
| 3.6 % |
| 0.0 % |
| 0.2 % |
| 0.0 % |
| 2.5 % |
| 0.0 % |
| 0.6 % |
| < 0.1 % |
| 55.4 % |
| 24.4 % |
| ----- |
| ----- |
|
Nests in many large colonies on the barrier islands (Portnoy et al. 1981). Prefers isolated, sparsely vegetated sandy beaches which are free of predators and provide visibility and proximity to shallow water (Buckley and Buckley 1984). Nests in association with Laughing Gulls and other terns, often Sandwich Terns. Forages by diving, skims to drink, and often pirates food, especially from Brown Pelicans (Ehrlich et al. 1988). Places nest on the open sand, often among shells or sparse vegetation (Ehrlich et al. 1988). NATURE SERVE GLOBAL HABITAT COMMENTS: Seacoasts, lagoons, estuaries, rarely on lakes (AOU 1983). Loafs and sleeps on mudflats, sandspits, or salt-pond dikes (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Nests typically on open sandy beaches of barrier islands, sandbars, sand/shell substrates; also on newly created dredged-material islands (Spendelow and Patton 1988); on remote cays in Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands. Colony site requirements: absence of quadruped predators; isolation from disturbance, combined with excellent visibility; proximity to areas of extensive shallows; and proximity to oceanic inlets (Buckley and Buckley 1984). Colonies in the eastern U.S. regularly change location (Buckley and Buckley 1984). |
| Code | Name | Description | NC Natural Heritage Program Equivalent |
| 378 | Ocean Beaches | Open beach sand. | Upper Beach |
| 372 | Interdune Herbaceous Wetlands | Dune swales with permanently flooded to intermittently exposed hydrology. Species composition depends on salinity and can include cut grass, spike-rush, mosquito fern, and hornwort. | Interdune Pond, Maritime Wet Grasslands |
| 371 | Maritime Grasslands | Dune grass community consisting of sea oats and beach grasses. | Dune grass, Maritime dry grassland |
| 8 | Open water | Open water without aquatic vegetation. | No equivalent |
|
Bent, A.C. 1921. Life histories of North American gulls and terns. U.S. Natl. Mux. Bull. 113. Washington, D.C.
Buckley, P. A., and F. G. Buckley. 1984. Seabirds of the north and middle Atlantic coast of the United States:their status and conservation. Pages 101-133 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2. Clapp, R. B., and P. A. Buckley. 1984. Status and conservation of seabirds in the southeastern United States. Pages 135-155 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2. Cooper, J., A. J. Williams, and P. L. Britton. 1984. Distribution, population sizes and conservation of breeding seabirds in the Afrotropical region. Pages 403-419 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No Harrison, C. 1978. A field guide to the nests, eggs and nestlings of North American birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. Sprunt, A., IV. 1984. The status and conservation of seabirds of the Bahama Islands. Pages 157-168 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2. van Halewyn, R., and R. L. Norton. 1984. The status and conservation of seabirds in the Caribbean. Pages 169-222 in Croxall et al., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. ICBP Tech. Pub. No. 2. Terres, J.K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. Wiley, J. W. 1985. Bird conservation in the United States Caribbean. Pages 107-159 in Temple, S. A., editor. Bird conservation 2. Univ. Wisconsin Press, Madison. 181 pp. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU), Committee on Classification and Nomenclature. 1983. Check-list of North American Birds. Sixth Edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. Raffaele, H.A. 1983. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Fondo Educativo Interamericano, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 255 pp. Hilty, S.L., and W.L. Brown. 1986. A guide to the birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 836 pp. Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birder's handbook:a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Shuster, Inc., New York. xxx + 785 pp. Spendelow, J.A., and S.R. Patton. 1988. National atlas of coastal waterbird colonies in the contiguous United States:1976-1982. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 88(5). x + 326 pp. Stiles, F.G., and A.F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Comstock Publ. Associates, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York. 511 pp. |
For more information please contact them at:
NC-GAP Analysis Project
Dept. of Zoology, NCSU
Campus Box 7617
Raleigh, NC 27695-7617
(919) 513-2853
www.basic.ncsu.edu/ncgap