Damara Tern
Sternula balaenarum
A very small, short-tailed tern of coastal waters. It often flies slowly on rapidly-beating wings with its head angled downwards, before hovering and plunge-diving to catch small fish. When breeding, it has a complete black skull cap and bill; when not breeding the front of the forehead turns white. It breeds on barren gravel plains and dunes but is most frequently encountered foraging over estuaries, lagoons, and near shore. Its strident “tsit-tsit” call is higher-pitched than those of other terns. In non-breeding plumage, the very similar Little Tern has contrasting paler rump and tail, while Damara Tern’s back, rump, and tail are all the same shade of pale gray.
Identification
At 23 centimetres or 9.1 inches in length the Damara tern is a small, rather pale tern. In breeding plumage, the adult has a black cap extending from forehead onto the nape and a very pale grey back. In flight, it displays a black triangular wing tip which runs from the carpal joint to the tip of the wing. In non-breeding plumage the adult shows white on the forehead and crown, with a black mask around the eyes extending to the nape. Immature birds are marked with buff bars across the mantle.<p>The calls of the Damara tern are a high-pitched, sharp "tsit tsit" and quick, harsh "kid-ick".:
Taxonomy
This species was previously included in the genus Sterna but with other small terns such as the little tern and the least tern it is now considered to be within the genus Sternula.
- Scientific name
- Sternula balaenarum
- Authority
- Strickland, 1853
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Laridae
- Genus
- Sternula
Range and habitat
It breeds in western coastal Southern Africa from the Eastern Cape through the Western Cape and Northern Cape into Namibia and Angola; 98% of the population of 14,000 individuals nests in Namibia. Non-breeding birds migrate north reaching Benin, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Togo.<p>The Damara tern generally prefers shorelines in arid, desert regions particularly where there are sheltered bays, estuaries, lagoons and reefs. As breeding areas, it uses gravel plains between dunes and on salt pans.
- Breeding range
- AF : coastal s Angola, Namibia and South Africa
- Non-breeding range
- to Ghana
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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