Medium small. Shallow forked tail. Subspecies differ with color of grey on upperparts. Sexes alike.
Adults: Breeding: Cap black. Back, rump, tail, most of wing, light grey, outermost primary dark grey, inner primaries whitish-grey. Eye, dark brown. Throat, cheeks, white. Breast, belly, dark grey. Lower belly, undertail coverts, underwing, white. Bill, blood red. Legs, dark blood red. Non-breeding: Like breeding but lores mottled black and white. Forehead, white with a few black streaks, grading to black on nape with a few white streaks. Black of of cap may dip down behind ear, but is not detached as in White-winged Black Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus). Collar, white and narrow or indistinct. Underparts, white. Bill, black. Legs, reddish-brown.
Immatures: Like non-breeding but back and scapulars mottled with buff and dark brownish-grey. Tip of tail is darker.
Other Scientific Names
Chlidonias hybridus [Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)], Chlidonias hybridus [Cramp and Simmons (1977-1994)], Chlidonias hybridus [Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993)]
Other Names (World)
Whiskered Tern, Marsh Tern, Black-fronted Tern
Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida) [XC748837]
by Sergi from Delta de l'Ebre, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain (flight call)
Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida) [XC265270]
by Thijs Fijen from brazo del este, sevilla, andaluc\u00eda, Spain (alarm call, begging call, call, flight call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Usually October - late January.
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Nest
A flat or cone-shaped and usually floating structure, composed of rushes or aquatic plants, sometimes placed among rushes growing in deep water, and anchored to a submerged plant. Loose colonies.
Eggs (Guide)
2 - 3; usually 3; glossy, grey to olive-brown, spotted and blotched with dark brown and grey; oval to pyriform; about 37 x 27 mm. Incubation: about 20 days; mainly by female.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous, ptilopaedic.
Subspecies
Subspecies swinhoei may be inseparable from javanicus. Proposed subspecies leggei included in javanicus. All Eurasian populations often lumped in nominate hybridus.
The following 7 subspecies are recognised:
hybrida (Pallas, 1811) - South-western and central Europe through western Russia, Middle East and Transcaspia to south-central and eastern Kazakhstan. Winters mainly in Africa and also south-western Asia.
swinhoei (Mathews, 1912) - Transbaikalia, eastern China and Taiwan.
indicus (Stephens, 1826) - Eastern Iran and Pakistan to northern India.
javanicus (Horsfield, 1821) - North-eastern India and probably Sri Lanka. Winters Malaysia to Indonesia.
sclateri (Mathews and Iredale, 1912) - Kenya to South Africa and Madagascar.
fluviatilis (Gould, 1843) - Australia. Migrates to New Guinea and Moluccas.
delalandii (Mathews, 1912) - Eastern and southern Africa, and Madagascar.
Similar Species
White-winged Black Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)
Slightly smaller. Non-breeding with immatures and non-breeding. Lores are white and have no black. Crown is greyish mixed with white. Has a diagnostic distinct black ear spot. Head is more rounded. Grey upperparts contrast with a white collar. Tail is more shallowly forked. Bill is shorter and not as heavy. Tends to pluck food from surface rather than diving for food.
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
Larger. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Tail is highly forked. Tail streamers are level with wing when at rest. Has a white rump and tail. Has dark shoulder bar.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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