Long-tailed Jaeger

The Long-tailed Jaeger is the most lightly built of the jaegers, with a tern-like grace in flight that sets it apart from its heavier relatives. Breeding adults are unmistakable when the extremely long, thin central tail feathers are present, though these are molted outside the breeding season.

• Central tail feathers in breeding adults are extremely long, thin, and flexible, often exceeding the length of the rest of the tail combined
• Upperparts are a cleaner, colder gray than the browner tones typical of Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers
• The dark cap contrasts more sharply with a pale gray back and mantle than in the other two jaeger species
• Underwing coverts show only light barring, notably less than in Pomarine Jaeger
• Overall feather structure is slender and lightly built, matching the species' small size and buoyant flight

• Breeding adults show a blackish cap, pale gray back, whitish underparts, and greatly elongated central tail feathers
• Dark morphs are rare in this species compared with the other jaegers, with most individuals showing the pale, gray-backed pattern
• Juveniles are barred grayish-brown overall and lack elongated tail feathers
• Sexes are alike in plumage
• A complete molt after breeding replaces the long tail streamers, which are absent for much of the year outside the breeding season

Long-tailed Jaegers breed on high Arctic tundra across northern North America, Greenland, and Eurasia, often in areas with cyclic small-mammal populations. Outside the breeding season they are highly pelagic, wintering far out over the open oceans of the Southern Hemisphere, rarely approaching land except at breeding sites.

This jaeger relies heavily on small rodents such as lemmings during the breeding season, supplementing its diet with insects and, less often, piracy against smaller birds. It nests solitarily on open tundra, and breeding success is strongly tied to the abundance of its rodent prey in a given year. Its call is a shrill, sharp note given mainly near the breeding territory.