Birds of Singapore
by the Bird Society of Singapore
Sternula albifrons
Family: Skimmers, Noddies, Terns, and Gulls · Status: Common resident · Size: 22–25 cm · Conservation: Least Concern
Occurs across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, temperate Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia. East Asian populations winter south through the Malay Peninsula to Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia.
A small tern, the breeding adult has yellow bill with black tip, black crown and eyestripe, and well-defined white forehead. Non-breeding adult has dark bill, legs and feet, white lores and forecrown, blackish hindcrown with whitish streaks and black nape. Juvenile resembles non-breeding adult but has dark subterminal markings on mantle, scapulars, tertials and wing-coverts. Small size and hovering foraging action distinguish it from all other terns in Singapore; white lores on non-breeding bird separate it from non-breeding Whiskered Tern, which shows a dark mask from eye to bill.
Coastal waters, mudflats, estuaries, reservoirs and freshwater marshes.