- Thalasseus bengalensis
Sterna bengalensis
Identification
Length 35-43 cm (13¾-17 in), wingspan 88-105 cm, weight 185-242 g
- Black cap (with mottled white forehead in winter)
- Upperparts uniform grey, including rump and upper tail
- Underparts white
- Black legs
- Long sharp orange bill, may have light yellow tip
Similar Species
Sandwich Tern: black bill with yellow tip
Elegant Tern: bill longer and slightly downcurved; mantle slightly paler; rump white
Chinese Crested Tern: bill yellower, with black tip
Royal Tern: Larger. Plumage is paler overall and rump and upper-tail white. Bill thicker than Lesser Crested, with dagger shape. Lesser Crested's bill is thinner and rapier-shaped.
Great Crested Tern: Larger. Plumage darker above; forehead always white, even in the courtship and breeding seasons. Bill yellow to greenish-yellow, and thicker, with dagger shape. Picture of Lesser Crested and Great Crested Tern together.
Distribution
Northern and eastern Africa, the Middle East, southern Asia, and Australasia; a rare visitor (has bred) in western and southern Europe.
Europe: records from Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar, Italy, and Greece
Northern Africa: breeds Libya; on passage off Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia
Western Africa: passage and winter visitor to Mauritania, The Gambia, Guinea
Eastern Africa: breeds Egypt (Red Sea coast), Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti Somalia; passage and winter on coasts of Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania, Mozambique
Southern Africa: winters South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal)
African Islands: winters Madagascar, Comoros, Seychelles, Mauritius Island
Middle East: breeds Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Iran; on passage off Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Socotra; vagrant to Turkey, Lebanon, Israel
South Asia: breeds Pakistan, India (Laccadive Islands), Maldives; on passage and wintering India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
Southeast Asia: breeds Sulawesi, Lesser Sundas, Bali, Timor, Moluccas; wintering Indochina, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Malay Peninsula, Brunei, Singapore, Borneo, Indonesia, Greater Sundas, Sumatra, Java
Australasia: breeds New Guinea, Papua New Guinea, Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia); on passage in Melanesia
Taxonomy
Photo © by Ken Doy
Wellington Point, Queensland, Australia, September 2016
Like the other Thalasseus terns, this species is was formerly often placed in the genus Sterna. Hybrids with Sandwich Tern have been recorded on several occasions.
Subspecies
Three subspecies are recognised[1], differing mainly in the tone of grey on the mantle and wings, and slightly in size.
- T. b. emigratus:
- Libya; winters off western African coast; has also bred in Spain (Ebro Delta) and Italy (Valli di Comacchio and Venice Lagoon), and hybridised with Sandwich Tern in the Evros Delta, Greece and on the Farne Islands, England.
- Palest and largest subspecies, mantle light grey, barely any darker than Sandwich Tern or Elegant Tern.
- T. b. bengalensis:
- Eastern Africa and southern Asia from the Red Sea, Pakistan, Laccadives and Maldives; winters south to South Africa and east to southeast Asia.
- Medium grey.
- T. b. torresii:
- Sulawesi to New Guinea and northern & eastern Australia; disperses northwest to southeast Asia in the southern winter.
- Darkest grey, nearly as dark as Great Crested Tern.
Birds from the Persian Gulf are of disputed placement, having been cited variously as either T. b. emigratus ([2]) or T. b. torresii ([3]), despite their being enclosed within the range of T. b. bengalensis.
Habitat
Breeds on coasts and islands.
Behaviour
Breeding
Colonial. It nests in a ground scrape and lays 1-2 eggs.
Diet
Diet includes fish shrimp (prawn) and small crustaceans.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2016. IOC World Bird Names (version 6.3). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 1996. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334207
- Scarton, F. et al. (2000). New breeding site of Lesser Crested Tern in Italy. Brit. Birds 93 (9):448-451.
- Avibase
- Wikipedia
- Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
- Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Lesser Crested Tern. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Lesser_Crested_Tern
External Links
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