From Opus

Photo by Alex Kuzmich
Photographed: Anadyr, Siberia, Russia.

Onychoprion aleuticus

Sterna aleutica

[edit] Identification

• Short, pointed bill
• Long, deeply forked tail
• Black cap
• White forehead
• Dark grey mantle and underparts
• Pale underwing with a dark secondary bar
• White rump and tail
• Black legs
• Black bill

[edit] Distribution

Alaska and Siberia; winters to Singapore and Indonesia

[edit] Taxonomy

Monotypic. Sooty Tern, Bridled Tern, Gray-backed Tern and Aleutian Tern are each others closest relatives and all four are sometimes included in the genus Sterna.

[edit] Habitat

Breeds on coasts and islands.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Breeding

It lays 2-3 eggs in a ground scrape.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes fish, for which it plunge dives.

[edit] Vocalisation

The call is whee-hee-hee.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links

• View more images of this species on Orientalbirdimages