Black Tern

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The Story

Years ago, Kosta worked with the folks at Cavalier to produce a small run of coronas intended for his personal collection. He originally ordered 500 cigars a year, and that was that. During the pandemic, the factory kept producing the 500 cigars a year – and just started aging them there since they hadn’t been given any specific shipping instructions while the world reeled from the chaos. It seemed like everyone except for the rollers had forgotten about this pet project. Well, this year (2024), these cigars were rediscovered – five years’ worth totaling 2,500, all aged between one and five years. 

Newly back at SMoKE, when Eric got his hands on this blend, he couldn’t believe what a rarity we’d uncovered. In fact, it reminded him of the first time he discovered a rare bird by himself – a Black Tern that hadn’t been reported by anyone else yet at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware the previous summer. All of a sudden, he was transported back to that moment of excitement and surprise! And, just like sending out the alert to all the other birders in the area – he knew we had to share these coronas with the cigar nerds that call SMoKE their lounge. 

Thus, the SMoKE Black Tern was born!  

The Cigar:

Produced at Fabrica Centroamericana de Tabaco SA in Danli, Honduras, this delicious 5″ x 44 stick features a dark Mexican San Andres wrapper over a Brazilian Arapiraca binder and fillers from Nicaragua and Honduras. 

Upon first light, you’ll be met with notes of earthy cocoa and a hint of black pepper. As you settle in, the pepper recedes and notes like cola and freshly-ground coffee take over alongside the dark chocolate. The cigar finishes with a sweet, woodsy note and a hint of clean minerality. 

The Bird:

An outlier in a world of white seabirds, breeding Black Terns are a handsome mix of charcoal-gray and jet black. Their delicate form and neatly pointed wings provide tremendous agility as these birds flutter and swoop to pluck fish from the water’s surface or veer to catch flying insects, much as a swallow does. Black Terns nest in large freshwater marshes, in small, loose colonies. They winter in flocks along tropical coastlines. In the last half-century, this species has lost about half its North American population. (allaboutbirds.org

The Four Keys to ID

Size & Shape:

A small and delicately built seabird with a thin, pointed bill; long, pointed wings; a shallowly forked tail; and short legs.

Behavior:

Forages by flying slowly and gracefully and either dipping to the water’s surface to pick small fish or insects or catching insects on the wing. Breeds in colonies in freshwater lakes, making nests on floating vegetation. Often forms flocks.

Habitat:

Nests in freshwater marshes and bogs; winters in coastal lagoons, marshes, and open ocean waters. Migrants may stop over in almost any type of wetland.

Color Pattern:

Adults in breeding plumage are dark gray above with black heads and black underparts. The underwings and undertail coverts are pale. Nonbreeding adults are gray above, whitish below, with a dusky crown, ear-patch, and mark at the side of the breast. Juveniles are similar to nonbreeding adults but with a brown scaled pattern to the upperparts.

 

Adult in breeding plumage. Photo by Ian K. Barker.
Adult in breeding plumage. Photo by Santiago Caballero Carrera.
Range map provided by Birds of the World