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River Tern

Sterna aurantia

Description:

The Indian River Tern or just River Tern (Sterna aurantia) is a bird in the tern family . It is a resident breeder along inland rivers from Iran east into the Indian Subcontinent and further to Myanmar to Thailand, where it is uncommon. Unlike most Sterna terns, it is almost exclusively found on freshwater, rarely venturing even to tidal creeks. This species breeds from March to May in colonies in less accessible areas such as sandbanks in rivers. It nests in a ground scrape, often on bare rock or sand, and lays three greenish-grey to buff eggs, which are blotched and streaked with brown.

Habitat:

As with other Sterna terns, the River Tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, crustaceans, tadpoles and aquatic insects in rivers, lakes, and tanks. Its numbers are decreasing is due to the pollution of their habitat.

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3 Comments

Maria dB
Maria dB 10 years ago

Very nice series

outsidegirl0
outsidegirl0 10 years ago

awsome!

Ava T-B
Ava T-B 10 years ago

Beautiful!

marirs
Spotted by
marirs

Karnataka, India

Spotted on Nov 22, 2011
Submitted on Mar 22, 2014

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Reference

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