Science  People  Locations  Timeline
Index: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Home > White-winged Tern


 

White-winged Tern
Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Sternidae
Genus: Chlidonias
Species: leucopterus
Binomial name
Chlidonias leucopterus
( Temminck, 1815)

The White-winged Tern, or White-winged Black Tern, Chlidonias leucopterus, is a small tern.

Adult birds in summer have short red legs and a short black bill, a black head, neck and belly, very dark grey back, with a white rump and light grey (almost white) tail. The wings, as the name implies, are mainly white. In non-breeding plumage, most of the black is replaced by white or pale grey.

Their breeding habitat is freshwater marshes across from southeast Europe to central Asia. They usually nest either on floating vegetation in a marsh or on the ground very close to water, laying 2-4 eggs in a nest built of small reed stems and other vegetation. In winter, they migrate to Africa, southern Asia and Australia. It is a scarce vagrant in North AmericaNorth America is the third largest continent in area and the fourth ranked in population. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocea, mainly on the Atlantic coast, but a few records on the Pacific coast and inland in the Great Lakes area.

Like the other "marsh" terns (Chlidonias), and unlike the "white" (Sterna) terns, these birds do not dive for fish, but fly slowly over the water to surface-pick items on the surface and catch insects in flight. They mainly eat insects and small fish.

The name 'White-winged Tern' is the standard in most English-speaking countries; in BritainThe word Britain is used to refer to the United Kingdom (UK): i. the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (from 1927), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ( 1801- 1927) or the United Kingdom of Great Britain ( 1707- 1801)., this name is also the one used by the formal ornithological recording authorities, but the older alternative 'White-winged Black Tern' is still frequent in popular use.



Read more »

Non User