Greater Crested Tern
Thalasseus bergii
Also known as: Great Crested Tern, Swift Tern, Crested Tern
About This Species
This tern frequents coastlines, estuaries and offshore islands across the Indo-Pacific, Africa and Australia, often seen in mixed flocks with other terns roosting on sandbars or plunge-diving for small fish just offshore. Its shaggy black crest and pale grey upperparts distinguish it from smaller terns, and it is most conspicuous around breeding colonies during the nesting season, when calling and aerial activity peak. Calm mornings near tidal sandbanks or harbour entrances tend to offer the best viewing of feeding groups.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Breeding colonies are especially sensitive, since flushed adults can expose eggs or chicks to heat, predators or storms, so a wide berth of at least fifty to one hundred metres from any roosting or nesting group is a reasonable default distance.
- Protection law for seabird colonies varies significantly among the many countries and territories within its range, so local rules should be confirmed before visiting a colony.
- Avoiding walking through roosting flocks on sandbars, even outside the breeding season, prevents unnecessary energy loss for resting birds.
Seasonal Activity
457,675 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Laridae
Photo
(c) Caiden B, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Caiden B
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.