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.
Photographs on this web-site were taken by Paul Smith, Hemme Batjes, Regis Nossent,
Lars Hansen and Huguito Cabral and are used with their permission.
ARCTIC TERN Sterna paradisaea
This Arctic Tern found by Floyd Hayes at the Bahía de Asunción in 1989 was a significant record in more ways than one. Not only was it the first ever in Paraguay, it was the first record for the interior of South America ever!! You see the Artic Tern is world famous for its pole to pole migrations, the longest of any bird, but their usual route takes them the length and breadth of the Atlantic Ocean, well away from land. This individual obviously fancied a break from the norm, and having heard so much about Paraguay being the next big tourist destination in the Americas, decided to check it out for himself!
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE911PH) Adult breeding plumage, Bahía de Asunción, Departamento Central. (Tarsicio Granizo May 1989).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE912PH) Same individual (Tarsicio Granizo May 1989).
Note the long tail. This individual represented the first record of this species in Paraguay and interior South America.
FIGURE 1

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2

FIGURE 2