Thalasseus bergii
Crested Tern
©Anne Hoggett: Crested Terns in breeding season at the Turtle Group
©Ceri Pearce: Three Crested Terns (at left) with a single Lesser Crested Tern (right) at Bird Islet, Lizard Island Group
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Charadriiformes
Family
Laridae
Genus
Thalasseus
Species
Thalasseus bergii
Status
unspecified
Colours
Distinguishing features
Distinguishing features still need to be specified.
Size
- Size data has not been obtained.
Wingspan
- Wingspan data is not yet available.
Synonyms
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Local abundance
- Lizard Island, Queensland, Australia: Varies seasonally, with the highest numbers present during the breeding season, November to March. It was the most numerous tern at Lizard and Eagle Island in the 1970s (Domm, 1977). Smith (1987) counted 2330 adults at Eagle Island in January 1984. In late December 2012, thousands of Crested Terns were observed on eggs at the Turtle Group (Anne Hoggett).
Behaviour
Breeds in the Lizard Island area, especially at Eagle Island. Laying starts in mid December and the first chicks appear in late January. Chicks cluster in creches where they remain until able to fly. Most adults and juveniles have left the area by April. Domm (1977) and Smith (1987) are the sources of this information.
Web resources
References
- Blaber, S.J.M., D.A. Milton, M.J. Farmer and G.C. Smith (1998). Seabird breeding populations on the far northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia: Trends and influences, Emu, 98: 44-57. LIRS catalog number 662.
- Blaber, S.J.M., D.A. Milton, G.C. Smith and M.J. Farmer (1995). Trawl discards in the diets of tropical seabirds of the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia, Marine Ecology Progress Series, 127: 1-13. LIRS catalog number 433.
- Brown, A.L. (1990). Measuring the effect of aircraft noise on seabirds, Environment International, 16: 587-592. LIRS catalog number 292.
- View all references