Roseate tern and the bill black. Juvenile roseate terns have a scaly appearance like juvenile Sandwich Terns, but a fuller black cap than that species. This species breeds in colonies on coasts and islands, at times with other seabirds. In Australian territory, it has been recorded nesting alongside the black-naped tern ("S. sumatrana"), lesser crested tern ("Thalasseus bengalensis"), crested tern ("T. bergii"), fairy tern ("Sternula nereis"), bridled tern ("Onychoprion anaethetus") and silver gull ("Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae"). It nests in a ground scrape, often in a hollow or under dense vegetation, and lays one or two (rarely three) eggs. It is less defensive of
Royal tern adult royal tern has an average wingspan of , for both sexes, but their wingspan can range from . The royal tern's length ranges from and their average weight is anywhere from . The calls of the royal tern are usually short, clear shrills. Some of the shrills sound like "kree" or "tsirr"; the royal tern also has a more plover like whistle that is longer, rolling and is more melodious. In various parts of its range, the royal tern could be confused with the elegant tern, lesser crested tern (the other orange-billed terns), and the greater crested tern. It