Bridled Tern

The bridled tern is a medium-sized tern of the tropical oceans, 30–32cm long with a wingspan of 77–81cm, similar in size to the common tern but more heavily built. It has long wings and a deeply forked tail, dark grey upperparts and white underparts, a white forehead and eyebrow, and a striking white collar on the hindneck; the legs and bill are black. It is paler-backed than the similar sooty tern, with a narrower white forehead and a pale neck collar. Juveniles are scaly grey above and pale below (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is much more marine than most terns and is migratory and dispersive, wintering widely through the tropical oceans. It breeds in colonies on rocky islands, laying a single egg in a ground scrape or hole. It feeds by plunge-diving for fish and also picks food from the surface, and the male offers fish to the female in courtship. Its scientific name means senseless, a reference to its tameness around people. SoIB 2023 lists it as resident and a winter migrant in India but gives no trend or priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).