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10

White-fronted Tern (Sterna striata) Alternate name(s): "Black-billed Tern", "Southern Tern" Size: 35-43 cm Weight: 105-160 g

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description White-fronted Terns are medium-sized terns. During the breeding season they have a black cap that extends well onto the nape of the neck, white front (throat, neck, chest, belly and vent) and grey wings. The black eyes are surrounded by the black cap, while the frons (base of the bill) has a narrow white saddle. The slender bill is black, the short legs and feet are also black. In eclipse the front of the cap becomes white, with a mottled black-and-white front part of the cap. Juvenile birds have a scalloped brownish-grey mantle, mottled dark-grey wings, and a mottled cap covering most of the head (except a narrow white saddle at the frons). Twitcher's tip Compared to Common Terns, adult White-fronted Terns have lighter wing tips, longer wings and a more deeply forked tail. At rest they show a white line along the upper edge of the folded primary flight feathers. Note that second-year White-fronted Terns are very similar to second-year Common Terns.

Taxonomy, classification See White-fronted Tern at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the White-fronted Tern is available HERE . White-fronted Terns used to be endemic to New Zealand, where they still are the most common terns, and the Tasman Sea. Since the 1970ies, White-fronted Terns have started colonizing Australia, where they are, except for a small breeding colony in the south-eastern Bass Strait, non-breeding migrants. They reach the Australian coast in an area from roughly the SA/VIC border to the NSW North Coast, including the East coast of Tasmania and the islands in Bass Strait. Occasionally White-fronted Terns are found farther West, up to about Eyre Peninsula, SA, and farther North, up to about Fraser Island, QLD. White-fronted Terns are found on the open ocean, the Australian pelagic and on the coastline on coastal rockfaces, beaches, sandspits and bars.

Sightings Click here for sighting information White-fronted Terns were spotted by T. Morris on two occasions, at Town Beach, Port Macquarie, NSW, in August 2011 and at Point Plomer, Limeburners Creek NP, in October 2012. A White-fronted Tern was also seen by us on a pelagic to the edge of the continental shelf, 22 nautical miles (40 km) from Terrigal, NSW, in July 2013.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

BREEDING

White-fronted Tern in breeding plumage; click on photo to see White-fronted Terns, far left and right, on rocks together with Crested Terns; the White-fronted Tern on the left is in breeding plumage, the one on the right is in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of T. Morris)
[Point Plomer, Limeburners NP, NSW, October 2012]

Dorsal view of a White-fronted Tern in breeding plumage in flight
[22 NM (40 km) ESE of Terrigal, NSW, July 2013]

NON-BREEDING

Lateral view of a White-fronted Tern in non-breeding plumage on a beach (photo courtesy of T. Morris)
[Port Macquarie, NSW, August 2011]

Lateral view of a White-fronted Tern in non-breeding plumage in flight (photo courtesy of T. Morris)
[Port Macquarie, NSW, August 2011]

Three White-fronted Terns in non-breeding plumage in low flight (photo courtesy of T. Morris)
[Point Plomer, Limeburners NP, NSW, October 2012]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Thu, 15 August 2019, 4:41 +00:00