Adults: Breeding: Head, throat, breast, belly, black. Eye, dark brown. Back, scapulars, blackish. Tertials, dark grey. Outer primaries, grey. Inner primaries, secondaries, greater coverts, grey. Rump, tail, lower belly, undertail coverts, white. Underwing coverts, greyish-white. Bill, dark red. Legs, reddish. Non-breeding: Lores, forehead, forecrown just above eye, white. Crown, greyish mixed with white. Ear spot, which extends further behind eye than in White-winged, and narrow crescent before eye, black. Nape, blackish. Collar, white, joins all white underparts. Back, most of wings, uniform mid-grey, with outer primaries darker. Distinctive dark mark on side of upperbreast near wing. Rump, greyish leading to pale grey tail. Bill, black. Legs, flesh-grey to orange.
Immatures: Like non-breeding but crown dark brownish-grey. Wings, mostly grey with light edges to feathers. Rump greyer than White-winged. Bill, black but yellowish at base. Legs, yellow-brown.
Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) [XC832934]
by Sue Riffe from Eldred (near Alice), Cass County, North Dakota, United States (alarm call)
Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) [XC663369]
by Uku Paal from Lexmond, Vijfheerenlanden, Utrecht, Netherlands (begging call, call)
Nest
A low heap of water weed or a shallow scrape lined with water weed.
Eggs (Guide)
2 - 4; glossy, buffish or greenish, strongly marked with dark brown; oval. Incubation: 21 - 22 days; by both sexes.
Subspecies
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
niger (Linnaeus, 1758) - Southern Scandinavia south to southern Spain, and eastern through eastern Europe and western Asia to L Balkhash and Altai. Winters in Africa.
surinamensis (Gmelin, JF, 1789) - Great Slave L, southern Mackenzie and central Manitoba south to California, and east to Great Lakes, north-western Pennsylvania and north-western New York, with disjunct populations in Kansas, Indiana and northern Vermont. Winters in Central America and northern South America.
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