Sandwich Tern

The Sandwich tern is a medium-large tern, 36–41cm long with a wingspan of 95–105cm and a weight of 200–300g. It has pale silvery-grey upperparts and white underparts and looks very pale in flight, with a thin, sharp black bill tipped yellow, short black legs and a shaggy black crest. After breeding the forehead turns extensively white. Juveniles have a scaly look to the back and wings and an all-dark bill. It is closely related to the lesser crested and elegant terns and has interbred with both (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in very dense colonies on coasts and islands, with nests often only 20–30cm apart, and lays one or two eggs in a ground scrape. Rather than attacking predators itself, it relies on nest density and on nesting near more aggressive terns and gulls. It feeds by plunge-diving for fish, and the male offers fish to the female in courtship. It is a vocal bird. In India it is a winter migrant with a restricted range; SoIB 2023 finds a current fall of about 11% a year and rates it a High conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).