Common Tern

The common tern is 31–35cm long including a deep tail fork, with a wingspan of 77–98cm and a weight of 110–141g. Breeding adults are pale grey above and very pale grey below, with a black cap, orange-red legs and a narrow, pointed bill that is mostly red with a black tip, or all black in some subspecies. On a standing bird the tail does not reach beyond the wing-tips, unlike Arctic and roseate terns. In winter the forehead turns white and the bill darkens. Its distinctive alarm call is a KEE-yah stressed on the first syllable (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds across temperate and subarctic Europe, Asia and North America and is strongly migratory, wintering on tropical and subtropical coasts. It nests on almost any flat, sparsely vegetated ground near water and readily uses artificial rafts; both sexes incubate up to three camouflaged eggs for about 21–22 days. In India it is mainly a winter migrant with localized summer breeding and a restricted range. SoIB 2023 estimates a long-term decline of about 84% and a current fall of about 5% a year, and rates it a High conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).