White-cheeked tern

The white-cheeked tern (Sterna repressa) is a species of tern in the family Laridae. It is found around the coasts on the Red Sea, around the Horn of Africa to Kenya, in the Persian Gulf and along the Iranian coast to Pakistan and western India.[2]

White-cheeked tern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae
Genus: Sterna
Species:
S. repressa
Binomial name
Sterna repressa
Hartert, 1916

Behaviour

Most of this species is migratory, although those in East Africa may remain there all year. It breeds in colonies of 10–200 pairs. These colonies can consist of a mixture of tern species.[3]

Habitat

The species inhabits tropical coasts and inshore waters, foraging mainly within 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) of land over coral reefs. Its nest is a shallow scrape on rock, sand, gravel or coral islands, bare and exposed sandflats and sparsely vegetated open ground on sand-dunes and above the high-water mark on beaches.[3]

Diet

Its diet consists of invertebrates and small fish.[3]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Sterna repressa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Noddies, gulls, terns, auks". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  3. "Sterna repressa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 2015-01-12.
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