10

Lesser Crested Tern

(Sterna bengalensis)
Size: 41 cm; wing span 92 cm

Sightings

We spotted Lesser Crested Terns for the first time in Oman in May 2010, in Quriyyat, about 100 km east of Muscat.

Photos

Lateral view of two Lesser Crested Terns (click on image to see them together with a Crested Tern)

Lesser Crested Terns (centre and, on the right, an adult bird), together with a Crested Tern at the back and two White-cheeked Terns, which are the smaller birds

Six Lesser Crested Terns (orange bills), together with two Sandwich Terns (tall birds with dark bills) and two smaller White-cheeked Terns

Lesser Crested Terns (orange bills), together with several White-cheeked Terns (foreground), Crested Terns (yellow bills) and two Sandwich Terns on the right, with their dark bills

Lateral view of an adult Lesser Crested Tern in flight

Here a bird cruising in a bit of a breeze

Immature Lesser Crested Tern in flight

Different phase of the wingbeat

Here an immature Lesser Crested Tern preparing for landing

Here four Lesser Crested Terns (centre), together with a Common Tern

Food

Like all terns, Lesser Crested Terns feed on fish, which they catch with their bills just under the surface of water in a steep high-speed dive from considerable height.

These pages are largely based on our own observations. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.