Saunders’s Tern

Saunders’s Tern:

Saunders’s Tern was sighted at Adyar Estuary in Chennai.

• Saunders’s Tern is a species of bird in the family Laridae.
• Saunders’s terns (Sternula saundersi) are a small, ground-nesting marine bird species.
• It is sparsely resident along the shores of the north-western Indian Ocean.
• It breeds in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf to islands between India and Sri Lanka; apparently winters mainly Seychelles to Maldives and Cocos (Keeling) Island.
• This species occupies a variety of coastal areas: estuaries, shallow tropical and subtropical inshore waters, tidal lagoons, and harbors.
• Its diet comprises many kinds of marine animals, such as small fish, crustaceans, and mollusks.
• It nests on the ground up to 2 km inland on uncovered sandy sites, shingles, or dried mud.
• The breeding season for the Saunders’s tern is between March and June.
• Conservation Status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List).
• Adyar estuary is formed by the Adyar River at the point at which the river meets the Bay of Bengal.
• It lies between Santhome beach in the north and Elliots Beach in the south.