Whiskered Tern
Chlidonias hybrida
Small buoyant tern. Breeding adult has distinctive dark smoky gray body and contrasting white cheeks (can look like broad white "whiskers" in flight) underneath a black cap. Nonbreeding plumage pale silvery gray overall with a faded shadow of the cap; juvenile has dark-checkered back. Note rather stout bill (albeit thinner than Gull-billed Tern) and square tail; compare to Common, Roseate, and Arctic Terns. Feeds by picking from surface, not splash-diving like typical terns. Common around wetlands, lakes, and rivers.
Identification
The size, black cap, strong bill (29–34 mm in males, 25–27 mm and stubbier in females, with a pronounced gonys) and more positive flight recall common or Arctic tern, but the short, forked-looking tail and dark grey breeding plumage above and below are typically marsh tern characteristics. The summer adult has white cheeks and red legs and bill. The crown is flecked with white in the juvenile, and the hindcrown is more uniformly blackish, though in the winter adult this too is flecked with white. The black ear-coverts are joined to the black of the hindcrown, and the space above is mottled with white, causing the black to appear as a C-shaped band. The sides of the neck are white; this sometimes continues across the nape. The collar is less sharply defined. All through the year the rump is pale grey. In the juvenile, the mantle has a variegated pattern. The feathers of the back and scapulars are dark brown, with prominent broad buff edgings and often subterminal buff bars or centers. There is usually an admixture of new gray feathers, especially on the mantle, quite early in the fall. The mantle is silvery-gray in the adult.The call is a characteristic krekk.<p>In winter, the forehead becomes white and the body plumage a much paler grey. Juvenile whiskered terns have a ginger scaly back, and otherwise look much like winter adults. The first winter plumage is intermediate between juvenile and adult winter, with patchy ginger on the back.<p>The whiskered tern eats small fish, amphibians, insects and crustaceans.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Chlidonias hybrida
- Authority
- (Pallas, 1811)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Laridae
- Genus
- Chlidonias
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- AF, PAL, OR, AU : widespread inland s, c Eurasia, e, s Africa, and Australia
- Non-breeding range
- inland Africa, Asia and Australia
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Rufous-bellied Nighthawk
Lurocalis rufiventris
A nighthawk of forests and clearings in the subtropical zone of the Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia. Rather chunky and short-tailed, with intricately patterned upperparts (usually including big white patches in the scapulars) and a tawny-rufous belly. In flight, looks big-headed with rather broad, angular wings and a fairly short, squared-off tail. Usually seen at dusk flying over cloud forest, but can also be seen roosting during the day on horizontal branches (if you’re lucky!) Similar to Short-tailed Nighthawk but found at higher elevations.
Scalloped Woodcreeper
Lepidocolaptes falcinellus
Medium-sized woodcreeper with a short, slightly decurved pinkish bill. Found in humid and montane forests, including Araucaria forests, where it typically forages in the canopy. The rufous back contrasts with the whitish throat and prominent eyebrow. Note the buff streaking on the darker brown head and the scaled belly. Similar to Scaled Woodcreeper, which has a duller crown and a less rufous tail.
Ethiopian Black-headed Oriole
Oriolus monacha
A mostly yellow bird with a black hood and a red bill. The tail pattern varies geographically; it can be largely plain olive-and-yellow, or it can show black patches. Found in lush woodland and montane forest at middle elevations in the Abyssinian highlands. Very similar to African Black-headed Oriole, but usually separated by habitat and range. Further distinguished by the wing pattern, which is plainer, with a long gray patch, and without bold white feather edgings. Song is a series of slurred, liquid whistles, and calls include raspy notes.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.