Thalasseus bengalensis

Thalasseus bengalensis (*)

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Ordo: Charadriiformes
Subordo: Lari

Familia: Laridae
Subfamilia: Sterninae
Genus: Thalasseus
Species: Thalasseus bengalensis
Subspecies: T. b. bengalensis – T. b. emigratus – T. b. torresii
Name

Thalasseus bengalensis (Lesson, 1831)
Type locality

Coasts of India

Synonymy

Sterna bengalensis (protonym)

References

Lesson, R.P. 1830–1831. Traité d'ornithologie, ou, Tableau méthodique des ordres, sous-ordres, familles, tribus, genres, sous-genres et races d'oiseaux : ouvrage entièrement neuf, formant le catalogue le plus complet des espèces réunies dans les collections publiques de la France. F. G. Levrault, Paris. Vol. 1: pp. i–xxxii, 1–659. BHL Reference page. : 621.

Vernacular names
Afrikaans: Kuifkopsterretjie
العربية: خرشنة بنغالية
azərbaycanca: Kiçik kəkilli susüpürən
български: Бенгалска рибарка
brezhoneg: Skrav Bengal
català: Xatrac bengalí
čeština: Rybák oranžovozobý
Cymraeg: Môr-wennol gribog fach
Deutsch: Rüppellseeschwalbe
English: Lesser Crested Tern
Esperanto: Bengala krestoŝterno
español: Charrán bengali
euskara: Bengalako txenada
فارسی: پرستوی دریایی کاکلی کوچک
suomi: Pikkutöyhtötiira
français: Sterne voyageuse
galego: Carrán bengalés
magyar: Bengáliai csér
Bahasa Indonesia: Dara-laut bengala
italiano: Sterna del Ruppel
日本語: ベンガルアジサシ
മലയാളം: ചെറിയ കടലാള
Bahasa Melayu: Burung Camar Berjambul Kecil
Nederlands: Bengaalse stern
polski: Rybitwa bengalska
پنجابی: نکا تاج آلا ٹرن
português: Gaivina-de-bico-laranja
русский: Бенгальская крачка
svenska: Iltärna
Türkçe: Tepeli sumru
Tiếng Việt: Nhàn mào nhỏ
中文: 小凤头燕鸥

The lesser crested tern (Thalasseus bengalensis)[2] is a tern in the family, Laridae.

Etymology

The genus name is from Ancient Greek Thalasseus, "fisherman" from thalassa, "sea". The specific bengalensis means "of Bengal", the type locality, historically referring to much of northern India and Bangladesh.[3]
Distribution
Lesser Crested Tern at Kutch

It breeds in subtropical coastal parts of the world mainly from the Red Sea across the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific, and Australia, with a significant population on the southern coast of the Mediterranean on two islands off the Libyan coast. Accidental breeding has also been reported in Italy and France. The Australian birds are probably sedentary, but other populations are migratory, wintering south to South Africa.
Subspecies

This bird has a number of geographical subspecies, differing mainly in size and minor plumage details:

T. b. emigrata (Neumann, 1934): breeding in the Mediterranean on islands off the coast of Libya, wintering West Africa. Pale grey above (only marginally darker than Sandwich tern); slightly larger.
T. b. bengalensis (Lesson, 1831): northern Indian Ocean, wintering to South Africa. Medium-dark grey above; slightly smaller.
T. b. torresii (Gould, 1843): Indonesia south to Queensland, Australia, wintering in the same area (birds breeding in the Persian Gulf are also often given as this race). Dark grey above; slightly larger.

The Mediterranean race is a rare vagrant to Europe, and has bred in pure or mixed pairs (with Sandwich tern) in Italy, Spain and England.

This species breeds in dense colonies on coasts and islands. It nests in a ground scrape and lays one to two (rarely three) eggs. Nesting behaviour is very similar to that of Sandwich terns, with predator avoidance by nesting in very dense colonies, and also (in race emigrata at least) by nesting in the late summer when predatory yellow-legged gulls have finished breeding and departed from the nesting area.
Thalasseus bengalensis - MHNT
Description

Like all Thalasseus terns, lesser crested tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, usually from saline environments. It usually dives directly, and not from the "stepped-hover" favoured by Arctic tern. The offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display.
Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

This is a medium-large tern, very similar in size and general appearance to its three very close relatives Sandwich tern, Elegant tern and Chinese crested tern. The summer adult has a black cap, black legs and a long sharp orange bill. The upperwings, rump and central tail feathers are grey and the underparts white. The primary flight feathers darken during the summer. In winter, the forehead becomes white. The call is a loud grating noise like Sandwich tern.

The grey rump is a useful flight identification feature distinguishing it from the related species. The Elegant tern also differs in a slightly longer, slenderer bill, while Chinese crested tern differs in a black tip to the bill and Sandwich tern a black bill with a yellow tip.

Juvenile lesser crested terns resemble same-age Sandwich terns, but with a yellow-orange bill, and paler overall, with only faint dark crescents on the mantle feathers.

There are two other orange-billed terns within the range of this species, royal tern and Greater crested tern. Both are much larger and stouter-billed; royal also has a white rump and tail, while crested (which shares the grey rump) is darker overall above and has a yellower bill. See also orange-billed tern.
Conservation

T. bengalensis is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies, and one of 10 marine bird species listed in Mediterranean marine birds Action Plan.[4]

In India the Lesser crested tern is protected in the PM Sayeed Marine Birds Conservation Reserve.[5]
0:39
Manly Marina, SE Queensland, Australia with crested and Caspian terns, silver gulls and pied oystercatcher
Many lesser crested terns with a solitary Sandwich tern clicked in Kannur, Kerala, India.
Lesser crested terns at Muzhappilangad beach
References

BirdLife International (2018). "Thalasseus bengalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22694561A132560333. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22694561A132560333.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
Bridge, E. S.; Jones, A. W. & Baker, A. J. (2005). A phylogenetic framework for the terns (Sternini) inferred from mtDNA sequences: implications for taxonomy and plumage evolution Archived 2006-07-20 at the Wayback Machine. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35: 459–469.
Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 69–70, 383. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
"Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas". www.rac-spa.org. Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2020.

KA Shaji (13 May 2020). "Lakshadweep gets world's first sea cucumber conservation reserve to curb smuggling into China". Scroll. Retrieved 23 July 2020.