Bird watching in Thailand - Whiskered Tern

PLEASE! If you see any mistakes, I'm 100% sure that I have wrongly identified some birds.
So please let me know on my guestbook at the bottom of the page

Whiskered Tern, Chlidonias hybrida, Chlidonias hybridus, นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว

Length: 29cm
Wingspan: 64-70 cm
Weight: 80-95 cm
Longevity: 10 years
Distinctive Feature •
Similar Species Summer adults resemble Common Terns more than Black Terns due to their black and white heads, but the short, broad wings and tails are typical of 'marsh terns'. and their underparts are so dark that the white cheeks stand out boldly. From opus at www.birdforum.net the forum for wild birds and birding.
Female / Male • From opus at www.birdforum.net the forum for wild birds and birding.

The Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida) is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek khelidonios, "swallow-like", from khelidon, "swallow". The specific hybridus is Latin for hybrid; Pallas thought it might be a hybrid of white-winged black tern and common tern, writing "Sterna fissipes [Chlidonias leucopterus] et Hirundine [Sterna hirundo] natam”.

This bird has a number of geographical races, differing mainly in size and minor plumage details.

C. h. hybrida breeds in warmer parts of Europe and Asia. The smaller-billed and darker C. h. delalandii is found in east and south Africa, and the paler C. h. javanicus from Java to Australia.

The tropical forms are resident, but European and Asian birds winter south to Africa and the Indian Subcontinent.

This species breeds in colonies on inland marshes, sometimes amongst Black-headed Gulls, which provide some protection. The scientific name arises from the fact that this, the largest marsh tern, show similarities in appearance to both the white Sterna terns and to black tern.

Range map from www.oiseaux.net - Ornithological Portal Oiseaux.net

www.oiseaux.net is one of those MUST visit pages if you're in to bird watching. You can find just about everything there

Description
The size, black cap, strong bill (29–34 mm in males, 25–27 mm and stubbier in females, with a pronounced gonys) and more positive flight recall common or Arctic tern, but the short, forked-looking tail and dark grey breeding plumage above and below are typically marsh tern characteristics.

The summer adult has white cheeks and red legs and bill. The crown is flecked with white in the juvenile, and the hindcrown is more uniformly blackish, though in the winter adult this too is flecked with white.

The black ear-coverts are joined to the black of the hindcrown, and the space above is mottled with white, causing the black to appear as a C-shaped band.

The sides of the neck are white; this sometimes continues across the nape. The collar is less sharply defined. All through the year the rump is pale grey. In the juvenile, the mantle (279 mm) has a variegated pattern.

The feathers of the back and scapulars are dark brown, with prominent broad buff edgings and often subterminal buff bars or centers. There is usually an admixture of new gray feathers, especially on the mantle, quite early in the fall. The mantle is silvery-gray in the adult. The call is a characteristic krekk.

In winter, the forehead becomes white and the body plumage a much paler grey. Juvenile whiskered terns have a ginger scaly back, and otherwise look much like winter adults. The first winter plumage is intermediate between juvenile and adult winter, with patchy ginger on the back.

Length: 29cm

Wingspan: 64-70 cm

Weight: 80-95 cm

Longevity: 10 years

Distinctive Feature

•

Similar Species

Summer adults resemble Common Terns more than Black Terns due to their black and white heads, but the short, broad wings and tails are typical of 'marsh terns'. and their underparts are so dark that the white cheeks stand out boldly.

From opus at www.birdforum.net the forum for wild birds and birding.

Female / Male

•

From opus at www.birdforum.net the forum for wild birds and birding.

The whiskered tern eats small fish, amphibians, insects and crustaceans.

Listen to the Whiskered Tern

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Sound from www.xeno-canto.org

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2.
International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

www.birdforum.net

Sighted: (Date of first photo that I could use) 12 February 2016
Location: Bang Pu, Bangkok

Thank's to Nick Upton at www.thaibirding.com for HOT birding tip. His web page is a ONE STOP for everything you need for bird watching in Thailand. There are reviews of the birding sites with maps and information.

And if you like Nick Upton's web page you will also like www.norththailandbirding.com I have used this page together with Nick Upton's page when planning my birding tours. Excellent reviews and information about the birding sites.

I also got the Thai names of the birds from www.norththailandbirding.com. There is a bird check list with all the names in English and Thai. And of course also the Scientific Name. Down load the birdlist in Microsoft Excel format at www.norththailandbirding.com Or down load the Excel sheet by clicking HERE

PLEASE! As I'm a first time birdwatcher bear in mind that some of the bird can be wrongly named. I have bought book and I confirm on the internet to get the right identity on the birds I take pictures off. But there can still be mistakes.

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
12 February 2016 - eBird hotspot: Bang Pu--Recreation Center, Bangkok

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
12 February 2016 - eBird hotspot: Bang Pu--Recreation Center, Bangkok

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
12 February 2016 - eBird hotspot: Bang Pu--Recreation Center, Bangkok

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
12 February 2016 - eBird hotspot: Bang Pu--Recreation Center, Bangkok

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
12 February 2016 - eBird hotspot: Bang Pu--Recreation Center, Bangkok

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
12 February 2016 - eBird hotspot: Bang Pu--Recreation Center, Bangkok

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
12 February 2016 - eBird hotspot: Bang Pu--Recreation Center, Bangkok

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
21 September 2019 - Bang Tabun, whale watching

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
21 September 2019 - Bang Tabun, whale watching

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
21 September 2019 - Bang Tabun, whale watching

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
21 September 2019 - Bang Tabun, whale watching

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
21 September 2019 - Bang Tabun, whale watching

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
6 October 2019 - Moo Ban Pramong, whale watching

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว - 6 October 2019 - Moo Ban Pramong, whale watching

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
6 October 2019 - Moo Ban Pramong, whale watching

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
6 October 2019 - Moo Ban Pramong, whale watching

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
6 October 2019 - Moo Ban Pramong, whale watching

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
6 October 2019 - Moo Ban Pramong, whale watching

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
14 April 2022 - eBird hotspot: Bang Pu--Recreation Center, Bangkok

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
14 April 2022 - eBird hotspot: Bang Pu--Recreation Center, Bangkok

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
14 April 2022 - eBird hotspot: Bang Pu--Recreation Center, Bangkok

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
14 April 2022 - eBird hotspot: Bang Pu--Recreation Center, Bangkok

Whiskered Tern / นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาว
14 April 2022 - eBird hotspot: Bang Pu--Recreation Center, Bangkok

PLEASE! If I have made any mistakes identifying any bird, PLEASE let me know on my guestbook

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