Bridled Tern
A species of Tropical Pelagic Terns Scientific name : Onychoprion anaethetus Genus : Tropical Pelagic Terns
Bridled Tern, A species of Tropical Pelagic Terns
Botanical name: Onychoprion anaethetus
Genus: Tropical Pelagic Terns
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Aviceda , used under CC-BY-SA-3.0 /Cropped and compressed from original 
Description
This is a medium-sized tern, at 30–32 cm in length and with a 77–81 cm wingspan similar to the common tern in size, but more heavily built. The wings and deeply forked tail are long, and it has dark grey upperparts and white underparts. The forehead and eyebrows are white, as is a striking collar on the hindneck. It has black legs and bill. Juvenile bridled terns are scaly grey above and pale below. This species is unlikely to be confused with any tern apart from the similarly dark-backed sooty tern and the spectacled tern from the Tropical Pacific. It is paler-backed than that sooty, (but not as pale as the grey-backed) and has a narrower white forehead and a pale neck collar. 
Size
32-38 cm (12.5-15 in)
Life Expectancy
10-18 years
Feeding Habits
Bridled Tern primarily consumes fish, capturing its prey through surface or shallow plunge diving. It exhibits specialized hunting techniques, often feeding while flying. No unique dietary adaptations are noted.
Habitat
The bridled Tern predominantly inhabits warm oceanic regions within a pantropical distribution. It favors tropical and subtropical coastlines, nesting on coral beaches, and utilizing rocky or sandy slopes. Bridled Tern typically forages both inshore and offshore, but generally no more than 50 km from the coast, commonly within 15 km, showing a propensity to be less pelagic compared to some related species. Often found perching on floating objects or in trees during nighttime, they also roost on sandbanks or rocky beaches. Bridled Tern has a particular affinity for foraging around Sargassum rafts and is known to be attracted to flotsam.
Nest Behavior
The nesting behavior of bridled Tern includes isolated or colonial breeding, often with other terns. Courtship involves high flights and aerial displays. Egg-laying occurs in a single scrape after a courtship of bowing and strutting. Both parents partake in incubating eggs and rearing the young.
Nest Characteristics
Bridled Tern typically nests in sheltered spots like under ledges, among rock rubble, in limestone caves, or underneath shrubs. Sometimes, nests are on open ground. They make a simple scrape in the soil without much, if any, lining.
Dite type
Piscivorous
General Info
Distribution Area
This bird is migratory and dispersive, wintering more widely through the tropical oceans. It has markedly marine habits compared to most terns. The Atlantic subspecies melanopterus breeds in Mexico, the Caribbean and west Africa; other races occur around the Arabian Peninsula and in Southeast Asia and Australasia, but the exact number of valid subspecies is disputed. It is a rare vagrant to western Europe. These are the four subspecies listed by the IOC: O. a. melanopterus – (Swainson, 1837): Caribbean and West Africa. O. a. antarcticus – (Lesson, 1831): Red Sea, Persian Gulf and western Indian Ocean. O. a. anaethetus – (Scopoli, 1786): eastern Indian, and Pacific Oceans. O. a. nelsoni – (Ridgway, 1919): west coast of Mexico and Central America.
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Shorebirds Family
Gulls Genus
Tropical Pelagic Terns Species
Bridled Tern 
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