Black-naped tern
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Sterna sumatrana

The black-naped tern (Sterna sumatrana ) is an oceanic tern mostly found in tropical and subtropical areas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is rarely found inland.

Appearance

The tern is about 30 cm long with a wing length of 21–23 cm. Their beaks and legs are black, but the tips of their bills are yellow. They have long forked tails. The black-naped tern has a white face and breast with a grayish-white back and wings. The first couple of their primary feathers are gray.

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There are two listed subspecies:

  • S. s. mathewsi (Stresemann, 1914) – islands of the western Indian Ocean
  • S. s. sumatrana (Raffles, 1822) – islands of the eastern Indian Ocean through to the western Pacific & Australasia

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Habits and Lifestyle

Seasonal behavior
Bird's call

Diet and Nutrition

Population

References

1. Black-naped tern Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-naped_tern
2. Black-naped tern on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22694612/132561758
3. Xeno-canto bird call - https://xeno-canto.org/413931

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