Lesser Crested Tern

Lesser Crested Tern, Sterna bengalensis, is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae.

It breeds in subtropical coastal parts of the world mainly from the Red Sea across the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific, and Australia, with a significant population on the southern coast of the Mediterranean. The Australian birds are probably sedentary, but other populations are migratory, wintering south to South Africa.

The Mediterranean birds move west in autumn, and are very rare vagrants to Europe, although this species has bred in pure or mixed pairs (with Sandwich Tern) in Italy, Spain and England. This bird has a number of geographical races, differing mainly in size and minor plumage details.

This species breeds in colonies on coasts and islands. It nests in a ground scrape and lays one to three eggs. Like all white terns, it is fiercely defensive of its nest and young and will attack humans and other large predators, usually attacking the back of the head.

Like all Sterna terns, Lesser Crested Tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, usually from saline environments. It usually dives directly, and not from the "stepped-hover" favoured by Arctic Tern. The offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display.

This is a large-medium tern, but it is the smallest of the yellow-billed crested terns. It most resembles Crested Tern. In Great Britain and the Netherlands, it has also been confused with Elegant Tern, both species being extreme rarities in these countries.

This is a powerful tern, similar in size and general appearance to a Sandwich Tern. Its long sharp bill is orange. Its upperwings are grey and its underparts white, and this tern looks distinctly darker in flight than Sandwich Tern. The primary flight feathers darken during the summer. The call is a loud grating noise like Sandwich Tern.

The summer adult has a black cap, and black legs. In winter, the forehead becomes white. Juvenile Lesser Crested Terns resemble same-age Sandwich Terns, but of course have a yellow-orange bill.

There are two other yellow-billed terns within the range of this species. Royal Tern in Africa is much larger, and has a white rump and tail. Crested Tern in the Indian and Pacific Oceans is darker and has a more robust cold yellow bill.