Black Tern
Chlidonias niger
Spanish: Charrán negro
The black tern (Chlidonias niger) is a small tern generally found in or near inland water in Europe and North America. As its name suggests, it has predominantly dark plumage. In some lights it can appear blue in the breeding season, hence the old English name "blue darr".The genus name is from Ancient Greek khelidonios, "swallow-like", from khelidon, "swallow": another old English name for the black tern is "carr (i.e. lake) swallow". The species name is... Most often recorded in May, Oct, Jun, Feb.
- 2026-05-15 — observation by isa_moguel
- 2023-10-12 — observation by guillaumecalcagni
- 2016-06-05 — observation by negronahual
- 2016-06-05 — observation by negronahual
- 2016-02-06 — observation by aleram54
- 2015-10-30 — observation by davidruizdominguez
Interactive card with more photos, sounds and similar species Birds guide iNaturalist Wikipedia
Cite as: “Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) at La Saladita”, La Saladita Field Guide, lasaladita.com/species/chlidonias-niger/, updated 2026-09-26. Observation counts and months come from iNaturalist research-grade records within about 50 km of 17.8375°N, 101.7606°W (the survey box also takes in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa and Troncones); summary text from Wikipedia where present.