Lesser Crested Tern

Sterna bengalensis

Photo by Tom Tarrant

Identification

33-43cm

• Black cap (fades in winter)
• Upperparts uniform grey - including rump and upper-tail
• Underparts white
• Black legs
• Long sharp orange bill, may have light yellow tip

Similar Species

Sandwich Tern: black bill with yellow tip
Royal Tern: Larger. Plumage is paler overall and rump and upper-tail white. Bill thicker than Lesser Crested, with 'drooping' shape. Lesser Crested's bill is rapier-shaped - thinner and more symmetrical.
Great Crested Tern: [1] Picture of Lesser Crested and Greater Crested Tern

Photo by AJDH
Jarim Islands, Arabian Gulf, June 2009

Distribution

Europe, Africa, Middle East Asia, Australasia
Europe: Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar, Lesvos
Northern Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt
Western Africa: Mauritania, The Gambia, Guinea
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania, Mozambique
Southern Africa: South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal
African Islands: Madagascar, Comoros, Seychelles, Mauritius
Middle East: Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Socotra, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran
Asia: Pakistan, India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh Southeast Asia: Indochina, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Malay Peninsula, Brunei, Singapore, Borneo, Indonesia, Greater Sundas, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Lesser Sundas, Bali, Timor, Moluccas
Australasia: New Guinea, Papua New Guinea, Australia: Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, Melanesia

Taxonomy

• T. b. emigrate:

• Libya; winters off western African coast

• T. b. bengalensis:

• Red Sea, Pakistan, Laccadives and Maldives; winters Southern Africa

• T. b. torresii:

• Persian Gulf; Sulawesi to New Guinea and northern Australia

Habitat

Breeds on coasts and islands.

Behaviour

Breeding

Colonial. It nests in a ground scrape and lays 1-2 eggs.

Diet

Diet includes fish shrimp(prawn) and small crustaceans.

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. Avibase
3. Wikipedia
4. Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
5. Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Lesser Crested Tern. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Lesser_Crested_Tern

External Links

Search for photos of Lesser Crested Tern in the gallery