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Sterna maxima (Royal tern)
Koningsterretjie [Afrikaans]; Koningsstern [Dutch]; Sterne
royale [French]; Königsseeschwalbe [German]; Gaivina-real [Portuguese]
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class:
Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned
fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial
vertebrates) > Tetrapoda
(four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota >
Reptilia (reptiles) >
Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria >
Dinosauria
(dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) >
Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves
(birds) > Order: Charadriiformes
> Family: Laridae > Genus: Sterna
Distribution and habitat
Breeds on island and coasts across the tropical and
sub-tropical oceans of the world, including the west coast of Africa, from
Mauritania to Angola. It is a vagrant to southern Africa, with multiple records
all at the same site in north-western Namibia - the Cunene River mouth, with
another sighting at the central Namibian coast. It generally prefers shallow
coastal waters and sheltered embayments.
Food
Often forages along with other terns, hunting by
plunge-diving from 5-10 metres above water, or alternatively snatching prey from
the water surface.
References
-
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts
- Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker
Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
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