Black-naped Tern

Sterna sumatrana

A medium-sized, long-winged, long-tailed tern of warm tropical seas. Adults appear snow-white except for a thin black nape stripe that extends from the eye (often not very visible from a distance), black outer edge to outermost primary, and thin, long black bill. Hovers frequently while foraging and dips down daintily to pick prey from just below the water's surface. Flies quickly and lightly, often associating with Bridled, Roseate, and Crested terns. Breeds colonially on rocky oceanic islands and headlands. Call a grating “grrri.”

Identification

The tern is about 30 cm long with a wing length of 21–23 cm. Their beaks and legs are black, but the tips of their bills are yellow. They have long forked tails. The black-naped tern has a white face and breast with a grayish-white back and wings. The first couple of their primary feathers are gray.<p>There are two listed subspecies:

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Sterna sumatrana
Authority
Raffles, 1822
Order
Charadriiformes
Family
Laridae
Genus
Sterna

Range and habitat

Breeding range
AF, OR, AU : islands off tropical Indian and Pacific oceans from Seychelles to Cook Is. (e Polynesia)
Non-breeding range
IO, s PO
Migration
Complete migrants

Conservation

Population trend
unknown

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

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