Great Shearwater (Ardenna gravis)
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
Large shearwater with distinct, marked, dark cap and white collar. Blotched belly and underwings. White upper tail-coverts forms a horseshoe mark, but note that Cory's Shearwater may show the same. Dark patch at side of neck. Bill dark. Flight action powerful, with alternating glides and rapid bursts of beats with stiff wings. Seldom soars.
Sound:Calls at breeding ground a deep, soft, moaning "oooh-aahh" ("surprised or shocked old lady"). Tone fairly clear, and pitch rising and falling.
Distribution:Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)
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