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10

Whiskered Tern

(Chlidonias hybridus)
Alternate name(s): "Marsh Tern"
German name(s): "Weißbartseeschwalbe", "Weißbart-Seeschwalbe"

Size: 24-28 cm; wing span: 57-63 cm
Weight: 60-110 g

Similar
species

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

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Whiskered Tern at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

Race "hybridus"

ADULT

Sex unknown

BREEDING

Frontal view of a Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Frontal view of a Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage trying to gain height, wings down (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage trying to gain height, wings up (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Lateral view of a Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Lateral view of a Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage banking sharply (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Behaviour

Lateral view of a Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage in its typical habitat, an inland marsh (photo courtesy of S. Cuturilov)
[Near Temerin, Serbia, July 2017]

Race "javanicus"

Photos of Whiskered Terns, race "javanicus", were taken by us in Australia.

Food, Diet

Near-frontal view of a Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage with a fish it has just caught (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Dorsal view of a Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage with its prey, a fish (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

whstern_20220116_4.m4a javanicus
(NW NSW)
Contact call? © MD
whstern_20220116_3.m4a javanicus
(NW NSW)
Contact calls? © MD
whstern_20220116_2.m4a javanicus
(NW NSW)
Contact calls? (Q&A) © MD
whstern_vc_20220130.m4a javanicus
(NW NSW)
Contact calls? (Q&A; in-flight) © VC
whstern_20220116.m4a javanicus
(NW NSW)
Contact calls? (Q&A; mob) © MD
whstern_vc_20211110_2.m4a javanicus
(NW NSW)
Various (hunting & feeding) © VC
whstern_20220130.m4a javanicus
(NW NSW)
Various (juveniles? in-flight) © MD

More Whiskered Tern sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

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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If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.