Appearance:

Similar to White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), but with dark brown, metallic neck, head, breast and back. Only belly and innermost, under wing coverts are white. Legs, eye-ring and bill deep red. Flies with neck extended like White Stork, but contrasting white belly is visible at great distance. Immature birds duller brown than adults, with grey-green bill and legs.

Sound:

Thin, disyllabic "ahhh-li" heard at nest and when courting. One syllable sounds like gasping intake of air, the other is a thin, piping sound. A bit like a cheap, manual, air-mattress pump. Bill-clattering used by juveniles in alarm.

Courting:

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:Edmunds Racinskis, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Unmistakable in breeding plumage, but otherwise easily confused with other marsh terns. Breeding plumage with black head and belly, but pale underwing and grey rump. When in immature and winter plumage it differs from Common and Arctic tern by smaller size and short, moderately forked tail, and from other marsh terns by slimmer body and wings (compared to White-winged tern), and relatively long, thin bill. Both immature and adult winter show dark front edge of wing, and characteristic dark shoulder patch at wing base. Back is dark in immature birds. Grey rump in all plumages. Flight usually different from Sterna-terns, with erratic dives for no apparent reason, and "aimless" change of direction. Note that when foraging over saltwater, flight becomes more Sterna-like.

Sound:

Moderately vocal. Flight call a more or less clear "kleck, or a disyllabic "klee-ake" with accented first syllable. Sometimes slightly rolling "klirr-eke", but never as much as in White-winged Tern. Also a slightly harsher "kreek", but not as raspy as in Whiskered Tern.

Flight call:

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:Ad Postma, Licence,Link.