🎵 Hear this bird singing nearby?Identify its song free →

Great Crested Tern

Thalasseus bergii · Seabird in the family Laridae
Order
Charadriiformes
Codes
grcter1, GCTE, SWTE, SWIF, CRTE

About the Great Crested Tern

The greater crested tern, also called crested tern, swift tern, or great crested tern, is a tern in the family Laridae that nests in dense colonies on coastlines and islands in the tropical and subtropical Old World. Its four or five subspecies breed in the area from South Africa around the Indian Ocean to the central Pacific and Australia, all populations dispersing widely from the breeding range after nesting. This large tern is closely related to other species in its genus, but can be distinguished by its darker, battleship-grey upperparts, white forehead even in full breeding plumage, and greenish-tinged yellow bill colour.

Source: Wikipedia

Taxonomy & Classification

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderCharadriiformes
FamilyGulls, Terns, and Skimmers (Laridae)
SpeciesThalasseus bergii
Species Codesgrcter1, GCTE, SWTE, SWIF, CRTE

Frequently Asked Questions

What family does the Great Crested Tern belong to?

The Great Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii) belongs to the Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers family (Laridae), in the order Charadriiformes.

How can I identify the Great Crested Tern?

The greater crested tern, also called crested tern, swift tern, or great crested tern, is a tern in the family Laridae that nests in dense colonies on coastlines and islands in the tropical and subtropical Old World. Its four or five subspecies breed in the area from South Africa around the Indian O...

Where can I report a Great Crested Tern sighting?

You can log sightings of Great Crested Tern on eBird (ebird.org) using species code grcter1, or on iNaturalist.