Meet Inky the Inca Tern!
I was delighted to meet Inky, not only for his dashing looks, but because he’s a living treasure. Larosterna inca is the only species in the genus Larosterna — and Inca terns are so rare as to nearly be endangered.
Inky likes to hang out on the Pacific Coast of South America. Once in a blue moon you might glimpse an Inca tern off the coast of Ecuador, but they almost always keep to Peru and Chile.
Inca terns scout out hollows in high cliffsides to keep their eggs safe. And every egg is precious indeed, because, like us, they give life to just one or two babies at a time.
The egg will take four weeks to hatch, and each chick needs another seven before he or she is ready to leave the safety of the cliffside nest.
All this said, I think lInky’s life sounds kind of fun on the whole. You fly about over the ocean, looking for small fish—especially anchovies.
Then you swoop down, dive into the briny, snatch the anchovy in your beautiful red beak and gulp! Yum! Let’s do it again!
Inky’s call sounds a bit like a cat’s meow. Did this surprise you? I thought not.
But do let me know how you much like Inky by leaving a LIKE and COMMENT!
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