Rock Bunting (Emberiza cia)
Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida)
Long-tailed and slim bunting with striking head pattern and grey bill. Adult male unmistakable with lead-grey head and black eye-, crown- and moustache-stripe framing grey cheeks. Female with brownish tone to facial markings, not so pure grey breast and less rufous underparts. Both sexes with heavily streaked back, grey lesser coverts and white-tipped median and greater coverts. Rufous rump. Immature birds usually show emerging black eye- and moustache-stripe, and some black-tipped ear-coverts.
Sound:Song variable, but usually distinct. Recalls stuttering Dunnock. Jerky, uneven thythm and tempo, with fairly large register and recognizible bunting timbre. May include mimicry. Alarm call a thin, short "seeeep", with clipped ending, similar to Cirl Bunting.
Song:
Distribution:
Xeno-canto: map
Ecology:Birdlife ecology
Links:
Observation.org Latest observations
Image search Flickr NB! May give other species
CCLargest marsh tern. Liable to confusion with Sterna terns due to black cap, in addition to other marsh terns. All marsh terns (Chlidonias) differs from Sterna by lack of tail streamers, short tail with shallow fork, shorter wings and stiffer flight. Marsh terns don't plunge-dive for food but picks from surface (though Whiskered Tern may belly-plunge), mostly in fresh water. Adult Whiskered Tern easily told from other marsh terns by distinct black cap contrasting to white cheeks and throat. Underwing pale with diffuse dark trailing edge. Belly distinctly darker than Common- and Arctic Tern, but beware of variation in both species. Bill dark blood red. Adult winter: Very pale with no distinct markings except for ill-defined black mask stretching from eye to eye across nape. Forehead white and with crown white speckles. Bill black. Immature: Yellowish brown saddle with coarse dark pattern, though these are moulted in early autumn. Usually lacks dark carpal bar and cap ill-defined. Whiskered Tern generally stockier built than other marsh terns. Both immatures and adult winter show grey rump (different from Common, Arctic and White-Winged), and bill is dagger-shaped (most apparent in males).
Sound:Contact call freely used and fairly distinct: An extremely hoarse, and rasping "krreek" in various moods. Timbre comparable to Corncrake. Sometimes uttered in stuttering series "kr-kr-kr-kr-kr".
Contact call:
Distribution:
Xeno-canto: map
Ecology:Birdlife ecology
Links:
Observation.org Latest observations
Image search Flickr NB! May give other species
CCCC-sound:Patrik Åberg, Licence,Link.
CC-photo:Jurrien van Deijk, Licence,Link.
CC-photo:Geert Moris, Licence,Link.