Least Tern

The Least Tern is the world's smallest tern—it weighs in at about the same size as a mockingbird.

• An American folk name for terns is “striker”—both because they hunt by striking the water and because adults dive-bomb anyone that approaches their nest. Along the Mid-Atlantic coast, Least Terns are often called “little strikers” colloquially.

The oldest recorded Least Tern was at least 24 years, 1 month old when it was found in New Jersey in 1981. It had been banded in 1957 in Massachusetts.