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Sterna sumatrana (Black-naped
tern)
Swartneksterretjie [Afrikaans]; Zwartnekstern [Dutch];
Sterne diamant [French]; Schwarznacken-seeschwalbe [German];
Gaivina-de-nuca-preta [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 from Andanam Island east to Samoa and Japan, as well
as at Amirantes, Aldabra and Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean. It is a rare
vagrant to southern Africa, with three records in southern Mozambique and two in
KwaZulu-Natal. Generally prefers tropical and coral islets and adjacent seas,
although in southern Africa it is always sighted at coastal tern roosts.
Food
Almost exclusively eats fish, doing most of its foraging by
snatching food from the water surface or plunge-diving to get to greater depths.
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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