Whiskered Tern Bird:

The whiskered tern is a small, plump marsh tern. It is also referred to as the black fronted tern or marsh tern. It is a sea bird which belongs to the tern family and has many different races which differ in size and plumage. During breeding its cheeks and sides of the neck turn white and the crown becomes black. The upper area of the body and upper wings are a lighter grey, while the under parts are dark grey. The underside of the tail and wings is white. The eyes are white and the bill is red. The tail is slightly forked. Male and females appear similar. The non-breeding birds have a similar appearance to the breeding ones, expect for their white under parts, white foreheads and white streaks on the crown. Young whiskered terns have a pale grey plumage on the back, upper wings and rump. Their tails are pale grey with black edges.

Young and non-breeding whiskered terns may sometimes be confused with young and non-breeding white winged black terns. White winged black terns are however smaller and leaner and also more compact that the whiskered terns. The other differentiating factor is that the whiskered terns have forked tails with a slightly square tip. Whiskered terns may be found in the mainland areas in Australia. They do not however live in the arid areas of the mainland. They breed in segregated populations throughout southern Europe, Asia, Australia, Madagascar and south-east Africa. These birds tend to live in freshwater swamps, floodwaters, sewage farms, dams, shallow freshwater wetlands and brackish lakes. Whiskered terns are a nomadic and migratory species. Many birds migrate from Australia to south east Asia and Indonesia.

These birds feed on insects and larvae, amphibians, smaller fish and crustaceans. They feed in three different methods, namely plunging, hawking and dipping. When they plunge, they first hover and then dive with their wings raised about 2-4 meters above the water. When hawking they take insects on the wing. They mostly hawk above dry plains.  Breeding season of these birds is irregular. Breeding takes place in colonies in marshes and swamps. They build their nests as either floating or still rafts composed of vegetation. Males and females are both involved in building the nests and caring for the young. Whiskered terns may become aggressive with intruders or attackers, including humans. They emit loud cries and swoop down repeatedly and can even strike the individual’s head with their beaks, if they perceive threat.