Birds of Singapore
by the Bird Society of Singapore
Onychoprion anaethetus
Family: Skimmers, Noddies, Terns, and Gulls · Status: Uncommon resident and uncommon migrant · Size: 37–42 cm · Conservation: Least Concern
Breeds across subtropical and tropical coasts and offshore islands of the Atlantic, Indian, and western Pacific Oceans, from Africa and the Arabian Peninsula through South and Southeast Asia, Australia, to Central and South America.
A medium-sized tern with deeply forked tail and white collar. Breeding adult has clean white forehead and short eyebrow contrasting with black eye-stripe, crown and nape, white underwing with brownish-grey tips. Non-breeding adult has dark brownish-grey upperparts with whitish feather tips giving a white-peppered appearance, whitish forehead-patch, blackish crown, nape and mask, and black bill, legs and feet. Juvenile resembles non-breeding adult but has whitish tips and dark subterminal bars on upperparts and wing-coverts, and a shorter tail.
Open seas, occasionally encountered in offshore strait waters.
Feeds by dipping from low flight to pick prey from the water surface, rarely submerging; usually forages solitarily or in small groups far offshore.