Listen to the Sandwich tern
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About the Sandwich tern
The Sandwich tern is a bird in the family Laridae (order Charadriiformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults have a wingspan of about 100 cm.
What does the Sandwich tern sound like?
Bird vocalisations are usually divided into songs – longer, often complex phrases used to defend territory and attract mates, sung mostly by males in the breeding season – and calls: short, simple sounds for contact, alarm, begging or flight.
From Wikipedia
The Sandwich tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) is a tern in the family Laridae. It is very closely related to the lesser crested tern (T. bengalensis), Chinese crested tern (T. bernsteini), Cabot's tern (T. acuflavidus), and elegant tern (T. elegans) and has been known to interbreed with both elegant and lesser crested terns. It breeds in the Palearctic from Europe to the Caspian Sea, and winters in the Mediterranean and on the coasts of Africa, India, and Sri Lanka.
The Sandwich tern is a medium-large tern with pale silvery-grey upperparts, white underparts, a yellow-tipped black bill, and a shaggy black crest which becomes less extensive in winter with a white crown. Young birds bear grey and blackish scalloped plumage on their backs and wings. It is a vocal bird. It nests in a ground scrape and lays one to three eggs.
More from the family Laridae
Black-headed gull
Chroicocephalus ridibundus
European herring gull
Larus argentatus
Common tern
Sterna hirundo
Common gull
Larus canus
Lesser black-backed gull
Larus fuscus
Arctic tern
Sterna paradisaea
Caspian tern
Hydroprogne caspia
Black-legged kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla
Gull-billed tern
Gelochelidon nilotica
Great black-backed gull
Larus marinus
Black tern
Chlidonias niger
Yellow-legged gull
Larus michahellis
Frequently asked questions
What does a Sandwich tern sound like?
You can hear 1 recording of the Sandwich tern on this page. Bird vocalisations are usually divided into songs – longer, often complex phrases used to defend territory and attract mates, sung mostly by males in the breeding season – and calls: short, simple sounds for contact, alarm, begging or flight.
Is the Sandwich tern endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Sandwich tern as “least concern”.
What family does the Sandwich tern belong to?
The Sandwich tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) belongs to the family Laridae in the order Charadriiformes.
Sources & credits
- Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) (W1CDR0001504 BD9) – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q27547 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Sandwich tern – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by MPF – CC BY-SA 4.0