- Chlidonias hybrida
Identification
24-28 cm (9½-11 in)
Adult Summer
- Black cap
- White cheeks and sides of neck
- Dark grey underparts
- Lighter greyish above
- Red bill
Adult Winter
- Black cap shrinks to leave a finely barred rear crown, with solid black patch behind the eye.
- Black bill
Juvenile
- Pale brown scaly upperparts
- Whitish rump
Similar Species
Summer adults resemble Common Terns more than Black Terns due to their black and white heads, but the short, broad wings and tails are typical of 'marsh terns'. and their underparts are so dark that the white cheeks stand out boldly.
Juveniles have a dark mantle reminiscent of the saddle on a White-winged Black Tern; however, it is not so dark in the Whiskered Tern. In addition the rump is not as conspicuously white as on a White-winged Black Tern and the wings of a Whiskered Tern are a more uniform grey.
The bill is heavier than in other 'marsh terns'.
Distribution
Europe and Asia. They migrate to sub-Saharan west Africa in the winter, although a few birds will remain in the Mediterranean. Birds which breed in eastern Europe winter in large numbers in the Nile Delta and eastern and southern Africa.
Accidental vagrant to Cape May, New Jersey (2 records) with one moving south to Delaware.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Chlidonias hybrida has three subspecies[1]:
- C. h. hybrida
- C. h. delalandii
- Eastern and southern Africa, and Madagascar
- C. h. javanicus
- Breeds Australia; winters northern Australia north to New Guinea, the Sunda Islands, and the Philippines
The subspecies swinhoei, indicus, sclateri and fluviatilis are no longer recognized.
Habitat
Inland marshes, pools and fishponds.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes terrestrial and aquatic insects, spiders, frogs, tadpoles, small crabs, shrimps and small fish.
Breeding
The nest is a heap of aquatic vegetation or dry grass, placed either on floating vegetation. They nest in colonies.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- BirdLife International
- Collins Pocket Guide to British Birds 1966
- Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
- Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Whiskered Tern. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 1 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Whiskered_Tern
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
