Australian tern

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Australian tern
Australian tern

Australian tern

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Plover-like (Charadriiformes)
Family : Terns (Sternidae)
Genre : Sterna
Type : Australian tern
Scientific name
Sterna nereis
Gould , 1843

The Australian tern ( Sterna nereis , Syn. Sternula nereis ) is a species of bird from the family of the tern (Sternidae).

It occurs in the Pacific Ocean along the southwest coast of Australia and the east coast to Sydney , on Tasmania as well as on New Caledonia and in New Zealand and the North Island .

Their range includes coasts with sand or corals and coastal dunes .

description

The Australian tern is 22 to 276 cm tall, weighs about 57 g, the wingspan is 45 to 51 cm. The sexes hardly differ.

In the splendid dress , the plumage is pale gray-white with a black crown, nape and ear covers and a black spot in front of the eye. The forehead is white, the beak orange-yellow. The iris is dark brown, the legs yellowish.

In the plain dress , the beak is black, the crown more spotted. Fledglings have blackish legs and beaks with a striped brown-gray crown and dark ear-covers.

voice

The call of the male is described as a harsh, loud “tchi-wick” or as an excited “kirrikiki-kirrikiki” and a quick “ket-ket-ket-ket”.

Geographic variation

The following subspecies are recognized:

  • S. n. Horni Mathews , 1912 - Western Australia
  • S. n. Nereis Gould , 1843, nominate form - South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania
  • S. n. Exsul Mathews , 1912 - New Caledonia
  • S. n. Davisae Mathews & Iredale , 1913 - North Island, New Zealand

Way of life

The diet consists mainly of small fish ( lagoon gobies ), also shellfish and snails .

The breeding season is between September and January or October and February.

The tern is a sociable colony breeder, it often occurs in flocks of 50 to 150 individuals. It migrates north from Tasmania and South Australia, in other regions it is local ( resident bird ).

Hazardous situation

The Australian tern is considered endangered ( vulnerable ).

literature

  • John Gould: Mr. Gould exhibited and characterized the following thirty new species of Australien birds . In: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London . tape 10 , 1842, p. 130-142 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Gregory Mathews: The Birds of Australia . tape 2 . Witherby & Co., London 1912 (English, biodiversitylibrary.org - 1912-1913).
  • Gregory Mathews: A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia . In: Novitates zoologicae: a journal of zoology in connection with the Tring Museum . tape 18 , no. 3 , January 1912, p. 171-446 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
  • Gregory Mathews, Tom Iredale: A Reference List of the Birds of New Zealand. Part 2 . In: The Ibis (=  10 ). tape 1 , no. 3 , 1913, pp. 402-452 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Avibase
  2. ↑ a b c d e Handbook of the Birds of the World
  3. ↑ a b c Australian Government Dept of Environment and Energy
  4. ↑ IOC World Bird List Noddies, gulls, terns, auks
  5. ↑ Gregory Mathews et al. a. (1912), p. 209.
  6. ^ John Gould, p. 140.
  7. ^ Gregory Mathews (1912-1913), p. 385.
  8. ↑ Gregory Mathews et al. a. (1913), p. 245.
  9. ^ IUCN Redlist

Web links

Commons : Australian Tern  - Collection of images, videos and audio files