Greater Crested Terns are relatively large 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 yellow; the short legs and
feet are dark-grey.
In eclipse
the front of the cap becomes mottled black-and-white.
Juvenile
Greater Crested Terns have "checkered" upperparts, i.e. their back
is mottled in various shades of grey.
Twitcher's tip
Compared to
Lesser Crested Terns,
the Greater Crested Tern is bigger and has a yellow bill (rather than
orange).
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 Greater Crested Tern is available
HERE
.
There are in total 5 races of Greater Crested Terns, which are
a dispersive species.
Nominate race "bergii" and race "enigma" breed along the southern
African coastline, with race "bergii" found westward of Cape Hoorn
(South Africa, Namibia), race "enigma" to the East, up to about
the Zambesi delta. They disperse into the near-coastal southern
Atlantic Ocean ("bergii") and southern Indian Ocean, respectively.
Race "thalassinus" breeds along the eastern African coast and on
the Seychelles group of islands. They disperse into the western
Indian Ocean.
Race "velox"
breeds along the south-eastern (Indian Ocean) coastline of Arabia
and along the south-western coastline of Asia, from southern Iran
to Pakistan. Outside the breeding season they disperse into the
northern Indian Ocean.
Race "cristatus"
has by far the widest-ranging distribution. Their breeding range
stretches from Malaysia, via the coastal fringes of Borneo and
Sumatra, south-eastwards around the coastal fringe of New Guinea and
all of Australia, including Tasmania. They disperse into the
north-eastern and eastern Indian Ocean, the South China Sea,
far into the western Pacific Ocean and everywhere in between in
South-east Asia and all around the Australian continent.
In Arabia, Greater Crested Terns, race
"velox",
breed along the south-eastern coastline, from the eastern
cape in Oman to the southern tip in Yemen. Outside the
breeding season they disperse into the nearby north-western
Indian Ocean, into the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
Greater Crested Terns breed in sandy areas, often on islands,
but also in suitable mainland habitats. Outside the breeding
season they hunt in coastal waters and the high seas. They
can be found resting on beaches, rockfaces and sandbanks.
Sightings
Click here for sighting information
Race "velox"
We have first spotted Greater Crested Terns, race
"velox",
in Oman in the area of Quriyyat, about 100 km East of Muscat, in May
2010.
Greater Crested Terns, with an adult bird in breeding
plumage
in the centre foreground, together with a
White-cheeked Tern,
right, and a
Sandwich Tern,
left; the Greater Crested Tern at the back right is in non-breeding
plumage
[Quriyyat, May 2010]
Greater Crested Terns (yellow bills), seen together with several other
species of terns:
Lesser Crested Terns
(orange bills),
White-cheeked Terns
(foreground and left),
Sandwich Terns
(far right and near centre back)
[Quriyyat, May 2010]
NON-BREEDING
Near-dorsal view of a Greater Crested Tern in non-breeding
plumage
(click on image to also see two
Lesser Crested Terns)
[Quriyyat, May 2010]
Like all terns, Greater Crested Terns feed on fish, which they catch
with their bills just under the surface of water in a steep
high-speed dive from considerable height.
We will try to replace these noisy recordings with better ones
as soon as possible.
More Greater Crested 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.
Description
Classification
Distribution
Sightings
Photos
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
Call/s
Click here for a physical description
.
