Black-naped Tern

The black-naped tern is named for the black band that starts at the eyes, joins behind the head and runs down the back of the neck. The rest of the plumage is white, with pale silvery-grey wings and mantle, and the deeply forked white tail extends beyond the wing-tips on a perched bird, as in its relatives the roseate and white-fronted terns. The bill and legs are black. It is 30–35cm long with a wingspan of about 66cm and weighs 97–120g. Its calls are short, high, sharp notes such as chit and tsip (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is an oceanic tern of rocky shores, rarely found inland, and moves each year to islets and islands to breed in small colonies of 5–20 pairs, occasionally up to 200. Nests are simple hollows in sand or rock above the high-tide line, sometimes ringed with shells or coral. It dives for small fish, partly breaking the surface and carrying prey crosswise in the bill, hunting alone at sea but closer inshore when feeding its mate and chicks. SoIB 2023 lists it as a resident of Indian islands but gives no trend or priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).