Habitat and Range
In the Americas the Royal Terns on the east coast, during the breeding season(April–July), occur in the US north to Virginia, occasionally drifting north to Maryland. The southern end of their breeding range is Texas. The wintering range for on the east coast is from North Carolina south to Panama and the Guianas, also the Caribbean islands. On the western coast of the Americas the Royal Tern spends the breeding season from the US state of California to Mexico, wintering from California south to Peru.
In Africa the Royal Tern is found along the west coast in the islands off the coast of Mauritania during the breeding season, but it is believed that there are undiscovered colonies on the west coast near or in Nigeria. The Royal Tern usually winters from Morocco and south to Namibia. The Royal Tern is not usually found in Europe although it has been seen in the western European countries of Spain and Gibraltar. Also, it has been seen farther north in Europe, but those cases are not confermed.
American birds migrate south to Peru and Argentina for the winter to escape the cold weather. African breeders move both north and south from the breeding colonies. African birds may reach as far north as Spain. This species has also wandered to Western Europe as a rare vagrant, these terns are probably from the American colonies.
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