Sandwich Tern
Thalasseus sandvicensis
Summary 7
The Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis, syn. Sterna sandvicensis) is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. It is very closely related to the Lesser Crested Tern T. bengalensis, Chinese Crested Tern T. bernsteini, and Elegant Tern T. elegans, and has been known to interbreed with Lesser Crested.
Taxon biology 8
Sandwich terns are easy to recognize by their funny black crest. They are built for life along the coast. With their long slender wings, they can hover perfectly above the waves as they hunt for fish. Sandwich terns are very social birds. They like to nest together in large groups. They even like having other tern species and gulls around. The more birds, the better the protection from predators. Common terns and black-headed gulls are much more aggressive than the gentle sandwich tern. In the winter, most sandwich terns migrate to Africa or southern Europe.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Isidro Vila Verde, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/86585370@N00/276267176
- (c) Andreas Trepte, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Sandwich_TernSterna_sandvicensis.jpg
- (c) MPF, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Thalasseus_sandvicensis_StMarys.jpg/460px-Thalasseus_sandvicensis_StMarys.jpg
- (c) Chris Moody, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7095/7217834974_9b4bccd77d_b.jpg
- (c) Chris Moody, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5075/7217831760_1669677466_b.jpg
- (c) Chris Moody, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm9.static.flickr.com/8146/7217844418_9874d31f1b_b.jpg
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalasseus_sandvicensis
- (c) Copyright Ecomare, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/31640945
