A group of Lesser Crested Terns. These are seabirds of the tern family Sternidae. This species breeds in dense colonies on coasts and islands. It nests in a ground scrape and lays one to two eggs. Like all Thalasseus terns, Lesser Crested Tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, usually from saline environments. It usually dives directly, and not from the "stepped-hover" favoured by Arctic Tern.
Tags: panasonic lumix dmcfz8 fz8 fauna bird lesser crested tern lesser crested tern thalasseus bengalensis sterna bengalensis
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A seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This is a medium-large (40 cm) tern. Like all Thalasseus terns, Lesser Crested Terns feed by plunge-diving for fish, usually from saline environments. It usually dives directly. The offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display. Found over most of coastal India. Eats mostly fish, with cephalopods, crustaceans and insects.
Tags: panasonic lumix dmcfz8 fz8 bird fauna lesser crested tern lesser crested tern thalasseus bengalensis sterna bengalensis
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Was lucky to get this Sandwich Tern which was amongst a flock of Lesser Crested Terns. It is a medium-large tern (40 cm) with grey upperparts, white underparts, a yellow-tipped black bill and a shaggy black crest which becomes less extensive in winter with a white crown. It nests in a ground scrape and lays one to three eggs. Sandwich Terns feed by plunge diving for fish, usually in marine environments, and the offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display. This specimen had a defective lower bill.
Tags: panasonic lumix dmcfz8 fz8 bird fauna sandwich tern sandwich tern thalasseus sandvicensis sterna sandvicensis
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A pretty nice photo of a single Sandwich Term amongst many Lesser Crested Terns. All in non-breeding plumage. It is the bird on the left that is the Sandwich Tern as distinguished by its yellow-tipped black bill. I was lucky to get the couple of terns in flight that were about to land. The terns, family Sternidae, are small to medium-sized seabirds, gull-like in appearance, but usually with a more delicate, lighter build and shorter, weaker legs. They have long, pointed wings, which gives them a fast buoyant flight, and often a deeply forked tail.
Tags: panasonic lumix dmcfz8 fz8 bird fauna lesser crested sandwich tern sandwich tern lesser crested tern thalasseus sandvicensis thalasseus bengalensis