{{Taxobox
| name = Roseate Tern
| status = LC
| image = Sterna dougallii.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = Roseate Tern, with Sandwich Terns
| regnum = Animalia
| phylum = Chordata
| classis = Aves
| ordo = Charadriiformes
| familia = Sternidae
| genus = ''Sterna''
| species = '''''S. dougallii'''''
| binomial = ''Sterna dougallii''
| binomial_authority = Montagu, 1813
}}

The '''Roseate Tern''' (''Sterna dougallii'') is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a number of geographical races, differing mainly in bill colour and minor plumage details.

''S. d. dougallii '' breeds on the Atlantic coasts of winters south to the Caribbean and west Africa. Both the European and North American populations have been in long term decline, though active conservation measures have reversed the decline in the last few years at some colonies.

left|thumb|Roseate Tern in flight.
The tropical forms ''S. d. korustes'' and ''S. d. bangsi'' are resident breeders from east Africa across the Indian Ocean to Japan. They have more red on the bill. The long-billed and short-winged ''S. d. gracilis'' breeds in Australia and New Caledonia.

This species breeds in colonies on coasts and islands. 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 its nest and young than other white terns, often relying on Arctic and Common Terns in the surrounding colony to defend them. In smaller colonies, they may rarely mate with these other tern species.

As with other ''Sterna'' terns, Roseate Tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, almost invariably from the sea; it is much more marine than allied terns, only rarely visiting freshwater lagoons on the coast to bathe and not fishing in fresh water. It usually dives directly, and not from the "stepped-hover" favoured by Arctic Tern. The offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display. 

Unusually for a tern, the Roseate Tern shows some kleptoparasitic behaviour, stealing Puffins. This habit greatly increases their food collecting ability during bad weather when fish swim deeper, out of reach of plunge-diving terns, but still within reach of the deeper-diving Puffins.

This is a small-medium tern, 33-36 cm long with a 67-76 cm wingspan, which can be confused with the Common Tern, Arctic Tern, and the larger, but similarly plumaged, Sandwich Tern.

Roseate Tern's thin sharp bill is black, with a red base which develops through the breeding season, and is more extensive in the tropical and southern hemisphere races. It is shorter-winged and has faster wing beats than Common or Arctic Tern. The upper wings are pale grey and its under parts white, and this tern looks very pale in flight, like a small Sandwich Tern, although the outermost primary flight feathers darken during the summer. The adults have very long, flexible tail streamers and orange-red legs. In summer, the underparts of adults take on the pinkish tinge which gives this bird its name. 

The call of the Roseate Tern is a very characteristic ''chuwit'', similar to that of the Spotted Redshank, quite distinct from other terns. In winter, the forehead becomes white and the bill black. Juvenile Roseate Terns have a scaly appearance like juvenile Sandwich Terns, but a fuller black cap than that species.

{{Taxobox
| status = LC
| name = Rózsás csér
| image = Sterna dougallii.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| regnum = Állatok ''(Animalia)''
| phylum = Gerinchúrosok ''(Chordata)''
| subphylum = Gerincesek ''(Vertebrata)''
| classis = Madarak ''(Aves)''
| ordo = Lilealakúak ''(Charadriiformes)''
| familia = Csérfélék ''(Sternidae)''
| genus = ''Sterna''
| species = '''''S. dougallii'''''
| binomial = ''Sterna dougallii''
| binomial_authority = Montagu, 1813
| range_map = 
| range_map_width = 250px
| range_map_caption = 
| synonyms = <small>
|doboz=

}}
thumb|right|250px|Hosszú, villás farka van
A '''rózsás csér'''  ''(Sterna dougallii)'' a rendjébe, ezen belül a családjába tartozó faj.

== Előfordulása ==
Mindegyik kontinens tengerparti részén költ. Elsősorban a tengerpartok lakója, de a tavaknál is megtalálni. Telelni költőhelyéről délebbre vonul.

== Megjelenése ==
Átlagos testhossza 33-39  centiméter, szárnyfesztávolsága 67-76 centiméteres. Feje felső része és tarkója fekete, csőre és lába vörös. A tollazata a víziállatokhoz hasonló, a háta kékesszürke, az alsó fele fehér. Felülről nehéz észrevenni a tenger színe, alulról pedig a nap miatt. Téli tollazatán a feje nem teljesen fekete.

==Alfajai==
*''Sterna forsteri arideensis''
*''Sterna forsteri bangsi''
*''Sterna forsteri dougallii''
*''Sterna forsteri gracilis''
*''Sterna forsteri korustes'' 

== Életmódja ==
Halakkal táplálkozik, melyet zuhanó repüléssel a vízbe vetődve fog meg. Keskeny szárnya és villás farka ideális repülővé teszi.