Description:

Typical tern; forehead and crown black, and long tail streamers. Grey mantle contrasts with white rump and uppertail-coverts. In breeding plumage orange-red bill with black tip, pale grey wash to underparts, and long tail streamers. Has dark bill, whitish forehead and dark lesser-covert bar in non-breeding plumage.

Distribution:

Common passage migrant through the south and eastern parts of Gilgit-Baltistan, absent in the north. Usually make short stops around vegetated inland lakes, marshes, streams and rivers. During passage from lowlands up to 4000m high.

Behavior:

Feeds in dense flocks over ocean, but some maintain individual feeding territories along shorelines. Feeds mainly by plunge-diving, also by contact-dipping and aerial-dipping, and occasionally aerial hawking. Mainly feeds on small fish. Occasionally crustaceans, insects and fish offal. Prey availability varies greatly within and between seasons, and this species is more opportunistic.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Common Tern in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Common Tern

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.