Medium large. Long crest, slightly decurved bill, medium long forked tail. Sexes alike.
Adults: Breeding: Shaggy black cap, extending to almost the base of the bill, with white spots on forehead. Crest is long. Sides of face, underparts, white. Rest of upperparts, grey. Outer primaries have black inner webs and distinct white shafts. Eye, dark brown. Bill, orange. Legs, black. Non-breeding: Like breeding plumage but forehead white, streaked black on crown. Bill, duller orange. Legs, black.
Immatures: Similar to non-breeding adult but face and crown streaked black and buff. Dark shoulder mark. Mottled brownish above. Outer primaries, outer tail feathers, sooty. Bill, brownish-yellow with a dark tip. Legs, black.
Other Scientific Names
Thalasseus bengalensis [Christidis and Boles (2008)]
Other Names (World)
Lesser Crested Tern, Lesser Crested-Tern, Crested Tern, Indian Tern
Lesser Crested Tern (Thalasseus bengalensis) [XC44520]
by Guido O. Keijl from Barr al Hikman: Shannah area, Oman (call, call of adult)
Lesser Crested Tern (Thalasseus bengalensis) [XC445215]
by Ken Behrens from Muara Angke, Jakarta, West Java, Indonesia (call)
Nest
A depression in the ground, usually on bare ground surrounded by vegetation. In colonies, with other terns.
Eggs (Guide)
1; white or pale-pink, lightly spotted and blotched with sepia, red-brown and purple-grey; oval; about 53 x 37 mm. Incubation: about 25 days; by both sexes.
Young
Precocial, semi-nidifugous. Fed by both parents until fledging.
Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Elegant Tern (Thalasseus elegans) and Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis), and perhaps Chinese Crested Tern (Thalasseus bernsteini), and subspecific status has even been suggested.
Mediterranean and Red Sea birds sometimes classified together as subspecies par; emigrata may be synonymous with torresii, although biogeographically allogical.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
emigratus (Neumann, 1934) - Libya; most winter off western African coast.
bengalensis (Lesson, 1831) - Red Sea, and presumed to be this race in Pakistan, Laccadives and Maldives. Winters south to southern Africa and Sri Lanka.
torresii Gould, 1843 - Persian Gulf, and from Sulawesi to New Guinea and northern Australia; in winter extends into northern Indian and south-western Pacific Oceans.
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