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Gull-billed Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Gelochelidon nilotica

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The Gull-billed Tern is a widespread tern that breeds in scattered colonies across southern Europe, much of Asia, north-west Africa and the Americas. It is larger and more robust than many terns, with a thick, gull-like black bill, a black cap in summer and a dark mask behind the eye in winter. Unlike most terns, it rarely plunge-dives and has a very varied diet.

Did you know?

  • Its genus name, Gelochelidon, combines Greek words meaning “laughing swallow”.
  • It has been seen picking up dead dragonflies from roads.

Voice

Call

About the species

Identification

A medium-sized tern with a black cap in summer, white head and neck and pale grey back. Its strong, thick black bill is a good field mark separating it from most other terns. In winter it lacks the black cap and has a dark spot behind the eye. The sexes look alike.

Family

Sternidae

Size

Medium (thrush)

Colours

white, grey, black

About the habitat

Open wetlands and coasts – lakes, marshes, lagoons, tidal flats and saltpans – as well as nearby fields; nests on low, sparsely vegetated ground near shallow water.

Diet

Opportunistic: mainly flying insects caught on the wing, but also amphibians, lizards, small mammals and crabs taken over wet fields, marshes and shores; fish only rarely.

Behaviour

Hunts mostly by hawking over wetlands, shores and fields, often giving a sharp “ker-wik” call; it seldom plunge-dives. It breeds in colonies on open ground, laying two to five eggs in a simple scrape. After breeding it disperses widely, and northern populations are strongly migratory.

Sources

Photo: Eric Kershner/USFWS, CC BY 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gelochelidon nilotica vanrossemi.jpg

Sound: Joost van Bruggen, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gelochelidon_nilotica_-_Gull-billed_Tern_XC431990.mp3

Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gull-billed_tern

See also