Inca Tern

Larosterna inca

The mustache alone sells it. Stylish, coastal, and wildly memorable.

Population: Estimated at over 150,000 individuals (2003/2011 data underlying the 2018 BirdLife/IUCN assessment), decreasing (~20-29% decline 2001-2034 assessment window)
Habitat: Marine environments of the Humboldt Current system; nests on sea cliffs, rocky offshore islands, guano islands, and artificial structures (e.g., pier ledges); forages over neritic waters including rocky, sandy-mud, kelp, and pelagic zones
Fun fact: The Inca Tern is nicknamed "the bird with a mustache" for the curling white feather tufts that sweep back from the base of its bright red bill, paired with a fleshy yellow wattle at the gape — likened to a "Salvador Dalí-esque mustache."
Range: Pacific coast of South America, breeding from Lobos de Tierra in northern Peru south to the Aconcagua River near Valparaíso, Chile (BirdLife gives breeding extent ~1,650,000 km²); post-breeding dispersal north into Ecuador/Colombia and south to Puerto Montt, Chile; casual visitor to Panama and Costa Rica, rare vagrant to Guatemala and Hawaii
Diet: Piscivorous, primarily small schooling fish such as Peruvian anchoveta; also planktonic crustaceans, offal, and carrion; forages by plunge-diving and surface-picking, and readily follows fishing boats and marine mammals (sea lions, whales, dolphins) for bycatch/discards; feeding flocks can number in the thousands
Size: 0.4 m
Wingspan: 0.78 m
Lifespan: 14 years

More Seabirds