Mediterranean Short-toed Lark (Alaudala rufescens)
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
Small lark with short, blunt bill and markedly streaked breast. The long primary projection is not covered by the tertials, as in (Greater) Short-toed Lark. Upperparts browner, and the dark shoulder patch og GSL is missing. Supercilium reaches all the way to bill-base. Wing-markings diffuse. Flight and behaviour similar to GSL. Sometimes performs song flight in characteristic "slow motion".
Sound:Contact call most diagnostic. A drawn, rattling "prrrrrrrt". Longer than in GSL, and less defined. Last syllable (t) accented and with a lower pitch. Song more continuous than in GSL, with a jerky rhythm and lots of mimicry. Listen for the interweaved contact calls.
Contact call, song:
Distribution:
Xeno-canto: map
Ecology:Birdlife ecology
Links:
Observation.org Latest observations
Image search Flickr NB! May give other species
CCDiffers from Arctic Tern in longer head, and more orangy red, rather than deep red, bill. Tip of bill usually black. Legs longer, but tail streamers shorter than AT. Underparts of primaries with diffusely bordered dark trailing edge (sharply bordered in Arctic Tern). Upper side of primaries with dark wedge (less apparent in winter). Secondaries opaque. Crest more apparent than in Arctic Tern and underside whiter. Juveniles with buff back.
Sound:Similar to Arctic Tern but deeper. Lacks latter's high pitched "tip-tip-tip" call, and the drawn out "kree-aaahh" call falls more distinctly in pitch.
Call:
Distribution:
Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)
Ecology:Birdlife ecology
Links:
Observation.org Latest observations
Image search Flickr NB! May give other species
CC