Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith, Roberto Derna, Kevin Guest (bushbirds.co.uk) Frank Fragano, Jerry Cooper and Arne Lesterhuis and is used with permission.
LARGE-BILLED TERN Phaetusa simplex
For the most part identification of terns in Paraguay is easy. There are two regularly occurring species both with yellow bills, but one is small, the Yellow-billed Tern, and the other is large, this species! If your tern doesn´t have a yellow bill then you´ve got something interesting so get a photo or make dam sure your notes are detailled! This is a common species mainly found along large rivers where it patrols in a typical tern flight with deep wingbeats and head bowed. Note the distinctive wing pattern!
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE3252PH) Adult dorsal, location unknown (Frank Fragano undated).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE3253PH) Adult, Rio Negro, Departamento Alto Paraguay (Arne Lesterhuis November 2004).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE3254PH) Adult non-breeding in flight, Bahía de Asunción, Departamento Central (Jerry Cooper September 2007).
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE3255PH) Flock loafing, Bahía de Asunción, Departamento Central (Frank Fragano undated).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE3256PH) Flock loafing, location unknown (Arne Lesterhuis undated).
FIGURE 6 - (FPAVE3257PH) Flock taking flight with Black Skimmers, location unknown (Arne Lesterhuis undated).
FIGURE 7 - (FPAVE3258PH) Nest with eggs, location unknown (Arne Lesterhuis undated).
FIGURE 8 - (FPAVE3259PH) Non-breeding adult, Arroyos y Esteros km87, Departamento Cordillera (Kevin Guest February 2012).
FIGURE 9 - (FPAVE3260PH) Breeding adult in flight, Arroyos y Esteros km87, Departamento Cordillera (Kevin Guest February 2012).
FIGURE 10 - (FPAVE3352PH) Flock, Carmen del Paraná, Departamento Itapúa (Roberto Derna May 2012).
VIDEO A - (FPAVE3261VI) Pair hunting, Bahía de Asunción, Departamento Central (Paul Smith October 2007).
VIDEO B - (FPAVE3630VI) Adults, Rio Negro, Departamento Alto Paraguay (Paul Smith September 2012).
FIGURE 1

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2

FIGURE 2
FIGURE 3

FIGURE 3
FIGURE 4

FIGURE 4
FIGURE 5

FIGURE 5
FIGURE 6

FIGURE 6
FIGURE 7

FIGURE 7
FIGURE 8

FIGURE 8
FIGURE 9

FIGURE 9
FIGURE 10

FIGURE 10
Phaetusa simplex
1 (FPAVE3262RE) call recorded Isla Yacyreta, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith October 2009).
Click the link to hear the call. Longer versions of this call can be downloaded from the Paraguay page of our partner website www.xeno-canto.com - the largest collection of freely downloadable Neotropical bird calls available online.