Insect prey of breeding South American terns

The South American Tern Sterna hirundinacea is a migratory species endemic to South America (Alfaro et al. 2011). Its diet is predominantly marine, as reviewed by Favero et al. (2000), Alfaro et al. (2011) and Mariano-Jelicich et al. (2011). However, the non-breeding season diet of this species, described on the basis of pellet collections, is more diverse than during the breeding season (Fracasso et al. 2011).