One of the 2 marsh terns on WAnimals
Birds · Charadriiformes · Laridae
Whiskered Tern
Chlidonias hybrida
Least Concern
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk.
The whiskered tern is a small tern of freshwater wetlands, dark grey in summer with crisply white cheeks that give it its name. It breeds in colonies on floating nests built among aquatic vegetation, and takes insects and small fish by skimming the surface of the water in a light, shifting flight. In Spain it breeds in the Guadalquivir marshes, the Ebro Delta and the Valencian rice fields.
Weight
78 g – 90 g
Size
23 cm – 29 cm
Life expectancy
12 years
