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Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern

Hydroprogne caspia

Identify the Caspian Tern by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Caspian Tern is the world's largest tern, a robust, pale grey-and-white bird with a massive red bill and a black cap, which is streaked in winter. It has a broad but patchy, almost worldwide range, breeding on large lakes and sea coasts in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia. A powerful fish hunter, it hovers high over the water before plunging.

Did you know?

  • It is the world's largest tern.
  • Its call is a deep, croaking bark that carries far over water.

Voice

Flight call

About the species

Identification

The largest tern: robust, with a short, shallowly forked tail and long, pointed wings. The bright red, powerful bill and dark cap are striking, and the underside of the outer wing shows a large dark patch. Its slower, more gull-like wingbeats also help separate it from other terns. Told from Sandwich Tern by its red bill and lack of a shaggy crest.

Family

Sternidae

Size

Large (crow)

Colours

white, grey, black, red

About the habitat

Coasts, estuaries, river deltas and large lakes and reservoirs; nests and roosts on open, sparsely vegetated islands, beaches and sand or gravel bars.

Diet

Mainly fish caught near the surface by hovering and plunge-diving; occasionally large insects, eggs and chicks of other birds or small rodents. It may fly up to about 60 km from the colony to feed and sometimes steals fish from other birds.

Behaviour

Often hunts alone or in small groups, carrying fish crosswise in the bill. It has a loud, heron-like croaking call. It nests on the ground in colonies or as isolated pairs, sometimes among gulls, laying 1–3 heavily spotted eggs, and defends the nest vigorously. The chicks vary in down colour, helping parents recognise their own young.

Sources

Photo: Mdf, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sterna-caspia-010.jpg

Sound: Joost van Bruggen, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hydroprogne_caspia_-_Caspian_Tern_XC432679.mp3

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_tern

See also