Appearance:

White forehead with white wedge above eye in all plumages. Legs, and most of bill yellow in adult breeding plumage. Very small and longwinged tern. Only 2/3 of size of Common Tern. Head and bill proportionally longer than Chlidonias species and congeners, while tail is shorter. Back paler grey and belly whiter. First primaries form a dark front edge to wing. In winter the bill darkens, legs turn a dirty yellow and the white forehead expands. Juvenile resembles adult winter, but has yellowish bill base and scale patterned back. Flight fluttering with rapid wing-beats, which together with size, is usually sufficient to determine the species.

Sound:

Fairly distinct voice. Contact call a sharp "kitt", often combined to form undulating, rolling series. Not as sharp and penetrating as Common- and Arctic Tern.

Contact call:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

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-photo:Lars Buckx, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Easily distinguished from Cormorant in breeding plumage, but at other times easily confused with congeners. Smaller than Cormorant, with a more slender neck and rounded head. Bill slender and straight. Steep forehead with peaked front crown, differs from the wedge shaped head of Cormorant. Bill often with yellow tinge (never in Cormorant). Flies with quicker wing-beats and straight neck (Cormorant with bulge). Often dives with a high jump. Juveniles with darker underparts than Cormorant, and often an obvious brownish tinge. Rare in brackish water.

Sound:

Very deep and harsh voice heard at breeding ground. Deep grunts alternated, or ended with clicking sounds.

Social interaction:

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

CC

Sounds:www.xeno-canto.org,Jens Kirkeby,http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/