Appearance:

Differs from Common Tern in shorter head, and blood-red bill. Legs shorter, but tail streamers longer (extends well past wings in sitting birds). Underparts of primaries with sharply bordered dark trailing edge (diffusely bordered in Common Tern). Both primaries and secondaries transparent to sunlight. Crest less apparent than in Common Tern and underside greyer. Cheeks white just below the black cap, often in contrast to grey lower cheeks. Juveniles lacks buff coloured back.

Sound:

Similar to Common Tern but higher pitched. Typical call a series of high pitched "tip-tip-tip", and longer, ringing, high-pitched "kriiiiii" calls. The drawn out "kree-aaahh" call falls less distinctly in pitch than Common Tern.

Calls:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:Stein Ø. Nilsen, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Huge bird of prey with almost white head, neck and ruff. Body buff and wing-coverts pale buff in marked contrast to dark flight-feathers (opposite of Black Vulture). Silhouette typical with small head and short tail. Wings with S-shaped trailing edge, and very long and widely separated primaries. Soars with wings raised in shallow V. Glides on bowed wings, with slightly folded and depressed primaries.

Sound:

Quite vocal for a vulture, but generally silent in flight. Various shrieking high notes, hissing, and harsh cackling sounds.

Squabbling:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Sound recording:Recorded by Fernand Deroussen,http://www.xeno-canto-org/,CC license