Appearance:

Hawk-like, partly diurnal owl with long tail and barred underparts. Plumage gives black and white impression. White face framed in bold, vertical black stripes. Eyes bright yellow. Wings fairly short, but not rounded. Tail long and graded. Flight pattern hawk-like, with rapid series of bursting wing-beats followed by glides. Often perched in the open, exposed in tree-tops.

Sound:

Seldom heard outside breeding ground. Alarm call a sharp, merlin-like "kwitt kwitt kwitt", or "ki-ki-ki". Song a 10 second rapid pulse of shivering notes with a bubbling quality. Rising slightly in pitch and then slowly falling.

Song:

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:Eero Pätsi, Licence,Link.

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.