Birds · Charadriiformes · Laridae

Whiskered Tern

Chlidonias hybrida

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The whiskered tern is a small tern of freshwater wetlands, dark grey in summer with crisply white cheeks that give it its Spanish 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

Lifespan

12 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Colony

Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

FreshwaterCarnivore Diurnal Colonial Bird Freshwater

51countries 58parks19same family

Fun facts

Its nest is a floating platform of plant matter anchored to the aquatic vegetation: it rises and falls with the water level, a solution that lets it breed in wetlands of shifting level where a fixed nest would be drowned.
It hunts without submerging: it works the surface of the water in slow flight, picking off insects and fry, a style very different from the plunge-diving of other terns.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Shallow lagoons, marshes, rice fields and wetlands with floating vegetation of Eurasia, Africa and Australia
Sexual maturity: 2 years
Gestation / incubation: 20 days of incubation
Litter / clutch size: 3 eggs

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlidonias_hybridus