Black-bellied tern

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Black-bellied tern
Black-bellied tern

Black-bellied tern

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Plover-like (Charadriiformes)
Family : Terns (Sternidae)
Genre : Sterna
Type : Black-bellied tern
Scientific name
Sterna acuticauda
JE Gray , 1832

The Schwarzbauchseeschwalbe is a species from the family of the terns (Sternidae).

It occurs in Pakistan , Nepal and India to China , Myanmar and Southeast Asia , but not in Sri Lanka .

Their distribution area extends along large rivers, inland lakes, also swamps , preferably wide, flat, structureless sandbanks and sandy islands .

description

The black-bellied tern is 32 to 35 cm tall. It is much smaller than the Hindu tern and its beak is orange. The top and the long, pointed wings are gray, in the magnificent dress forehead and crown are shiny black, throat, chin and ear covers are white. Chest and belly are black, in a plain dress gray and white with a black mask and black striped head with a black spot behind the eyes. Compared to the whiskered tern , it is easy to distinguish in its summer dress by its deeply split tail.

voice

The call of the male is described as a short, barking "nyap" or "nyark" of varying pitch, but also as a "krek krek" in flight.

Way of life

The diet consists mainly of fish and insects including dragonflies . The swallow is sociable, flies a few meters above the water looking for prey, rests in groups close together on sandbanks with their faces facing the wind.

The breeding season is between February and May, and nests built early are sometimes flooded. It likes to breed with Hindu terns , scissors-beaks and curlews , but is not a colony breeder. Usually three to four pale or sand-colored, red-speckled eggs are placed in a shallow sand hollow. Both sexes share breeding and rearing.

Hazardous situation

The black-bellied tern is endangered .

Individual evidence

  1. Avibase
  2. a b c d S. Ali: The Book of Indian Birds. Bombay Natural History Society, Oxford university Press, 13th ed. 2002, ISBN 978-0-19-566523-9
  3. a b c d Handbook of the Birds of the World
  4. a b R. Grimmett, T. Inskipp: Birds of Northern India. Helm Field Guides, 2017, ISBN 978-0-7136-5167-6
  5. ^ IUCN Redlist

Web links

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