Breeding adult © Ian Davies eBird S29914716 Macaulay Library ML 30334171
Nonbreeding adult © Jerry Ting
Breeding adult © Matt Brady
Juvenile © Chun-Chieh Liao
Nonbreeding adult © Sneha Gupta
+ 2
Adult © Matt Brady

Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida

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Identification

POWERED BY MERLIN

Small buoyant tern. Breeding adult has distinctive dark smoky gray body and contrasting white cheeks (can look like broad white "whiskers" in flight) underneath a black cap. Nonbreeding plumage pale silvery gray overall with a faded shadow of the cap; juvenile has dark-checkered back. Note rather stout bill (albeit thinner than Gull-billed Tern) and square tail; compare to Common, Roseate, and Arctic Terns. Feeds by picking from surface, not splash-diving like typical terns. Common around wetlands, lakes, and rivers.

POWERED BY MERLIN