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Caspian Terns are the largest of all terns. During the breeding season they have a black cap, 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) is white. The pointy, long bill is red with a black tip, the short legs and feet are black. In eclipse the cap becomes mottled black-and-white and only a stripe behind the eyes remains solid dark-grey to black. Juvenile Caspian Terns are mottled grey, with a mottled cap.

Twitcher's tip

Compared to Greater Crested Terns, the Caspian Tern is much bigger and has a red bill with black tip (rather than yellow).

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 Caspian Tern is available HERE .

Caspian Terns are a partly migratory species with a wide-ranging distribution. Populations breeding around large inland lakes and the coastlines of northern-hemisphere continents (North America, Europe, Asia) are migratory. The northern American birds migrate southwards in winter, to the southern coasts of North America, the West Indies and northern South American coastlines. The European and Asian populations spend the winter along the tropical and subtropical coastlines of Africa, southern Asia and Arabia. The populations breeding in Africa and Australasia are resident or locally dispersive, but do not migrate.

In Arabia Caspian Terns are mostly found as winter visitors, usually along the coastline. They are most comonly found along the northern coast, from Kuwait to eastern Oman, and along the Red Sea coast.

Caspian Terns can be found above coastal waters, but also in tidal flats and inland, in the shallows of freshwater lakes, including ephemeral lakes and ephemeral wetlands.

We have not seen Caspian Terns in Oman yet, but in Australia and in Europe.