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The Aleutian Tern (Sterna aleutica) is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae.

This species breeds in colonies on coasts and islands in Alaska and easternmost Siberia. It is strongly migratory, wintering off Indonesia and Malaysia. Large numbers appear off ChinaThis article is on the geographic and cultural entity. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation). China ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , Hanyu Pinyin: Zhongguo, Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) is a country in continental East Asia with some oute during passage periods.

It is a very rare vagrant to western EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se, with just one record, on the Farne IslandsThe Farne Islands (also referred to less formally as the Farnes are a group of islands off the coast of Northumberland, England. There are between 15 to 20 or more islands depending on the state of the tide. They are scattered about 2. 5 km (1½-4¾ miles) off NorthumberlandFor other places with this name, see Northumberland Northumberland is a county in England, on the border with Scotland. The county's largest boundaries were from the river Humber in the south, to the Forth in the North, as the kingdom of Northumbria under, UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly on 28-29 May 1979.

It lays 2-3 eggs in a ground scrape. It sometimes nests among Arctic TernThe Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution breeding abundantly in arctic and sub-arctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America as far south as Brittany and Massachusetts. It iss, which, like most white terns, are fiercely defensive of their nest and young and will attack large predators.

Like all Sterna terns, the Aleutian Tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, usually from saline environments. The offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display.

This is a medium-sized tern, with a short, pointed bill and a long, deeply forked tail. It has a black cap with a white forehead, dark gray mantle and underparts and a mostly pale underwing with a dark secondary bar. It has a white rump and tail, black legs and a black bill.

The call is a musical whee-hee-hee.