Thalasseus bergii
The Greater Crested Tern, *Thalasseus bergii*, is a magnificent, medium-large seabird measuring 40-46 cm in length with a wingspan of 100-110 cm and weighing 250-400g. Adults boast a gleaming white body, pale grey back and upperwings, and strikingly contrast with a shaggy black crest extending from the crown to the nape, giving rise to its common name. Its most distinctive field mark is a robust, dagger-like bill, bright yellow to orange-yellow, alongside black legs. Taxonomically, it belongs...
Primarily coastal, inhabiting sandy beaches, rocky shores, coral cays, islands, estuaries, and offshore waters, typically at sea level or very low elevations.
Primarily fish, caught by plunge-diving; also consumes squid and crustaceans.
Greater Crested Terns are highly social, colonial breeders and roost communally on sandy spits or offshore islands. They are diurnal, spending their days foraging and resting, often congregating in large flocks outside the breeding season. Foraging is characterized by spectacular plunge-diving fr...
The Greater Crested Tern boasts one of the most extensive distributions among seabirds, encompassing vast coastal regions across the Old World tropics and subtropics. Its breeding range spans the coasts of southern and eastern Africa, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, Southe...
Least Concern
- The Greater Crested Tern is sometimes known as the Swift Tern, especially in Australia, due to its rapid and agile flight. - Despite its wide distribution, it was only formally described in 1847 by the German zoologist Martin Lichtenstein. - They are exceptionally long-lived for a bird of their...