Common Gull‑billed Tern Did you see this animal?
Scientific Name : Gelochelidon nilotica
Family : Laridae
Order : Charadriiformes
Class : Aves
Phylum : Chordata
Habitat : Coast
Description : The Gull-billed Tern is a pale pearl-grey and white water bird with a stout black bill and grey shallowly forked tail (adult bird length approximately 38 cm, wing 32 cm, bill 3.7 cm, tarsus 3.5 cm, tail: 8.5 cm, outer 13 cm, depth of fork 3.9 cm). In the breeding season, it looks pale pearl-grey from above and white from below. Its irises are black-brown, It feeds on insects, crustaceans, small fish and amphibians. They forms breeding colonies in various habitats such as lakes, marshes, and coastal areas, including bays and earthen levees. It chooses to nest on the ground, creating a shallow depression in the soil. Within this scrape, the tern lays a clutch of two to five eggs.
Distribution in Bangladesh
Other Species from Group
-
Sterna sumatrana
(Black‑naped Tern) -
Rissa tridactyla
(Black-legged Kittiwake) -
Sterna acuticauda
(Black‑bellied Tern) -
Chlidonias leucopterus
(White‑winged Tern) -
Sterna aurantia
(River Tern) -
Thalasseus bengalensis
(Lesser Crested Tern) -
Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus
(Pallas’s (Great Black‑headed ) Gull) -
Chlidonias hybrida
(Whiskered Tern) -
Thalasseus bergii
(Great Crested (Swift) Tern) -
Thalasseus sandvicensis
(Sandwich Tern)
Species groups
-
Bee-eaters -
Booby -
frigatebird -
phalarope -
tropicbird -
Martins and Swallows -
Crows, Drongos & allies -
Woodpeckers -
Eared Nightjars -
Ibises & Spoonbills -
Trogons -
Coucals -
Pelicans -
Darters -
Gulls -
Warblers and allies -
Flowerpeckers & Sunbirds -
Sparrows, Wagtails, Pipits a& allies -
moonbird -
Hawks & Eagles -
Snipes, Sandpipers, Plovers & allies -
Small Kingfishers -
Cisticola & Prinia -
Plovers & Lapwings -
Rails, Gallinules & Coots -
Tits -
Parrots -
Rosefinches and Buntings -
Bustards -
Grebes -
Pheasants & Partridges -
Old World flycatcher -
Starlings and Mynas -
Hornbills -
Buttonquails -
Rollers -
Bluebirds -
Crested Kingfishers -
Cormorants -
Pigeons and Doves -
Jacanas -
Typical Owl -
Finfoots &booby -
Flamingo -
Herons and Bitterns -
Treecreepers -
Nuthatch -
Barbets -
Treeswifts -
Swifts -
Crab-plovers, Coursers and Pratincoles -
Bulbuls -
Frogmouths -
Larks -
Storks -
Broadbills -
Thick-knees -
Painted-snipes -
Nightjars -
Barn-owls -
Large-billed Kingfishers -
Falcons -
Pittas -
Cranes -
Whistling-ducks -
Ducks, Geese & Swans -
Hoopoe
References:
description written by:Fatema-Tuz-Zohora,Department of Zoology, Jagannath University,Dhaka;information source: Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh, Vol-26, iucnredlist.org;Photo credit and copyright:Syed Abbas (Birdwing,Bangladesh);taxonomic checklist:P. M. Thompson and S. U. Chowdhury (2020). A checklist of birds of Bangladesh.Birds Bangladesh;bird song owner:Oscar Campbell(www.xeno-canto.org/Oscar Campbell), bird sound copyright reserved according to www.xeno-canto.org rules; more information, please contact us.
description written by:Fatema-Tuz-Zohora,Department of Zoology, Jagannath University,Dhaka;information source: Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh, Vol-26, iucnredlist.org;Photo credit and copyright:Syed Abbas (Birdwing,Bangladesh);taxonomic checklist:P. M. Thompson and S. U. Chowdhury (2020). A checklist of birds of Bangladesh.Birds Bangladesh;bird song owner:Oscar Campbell(www.xeno-canto.org/Oscar Campbell), bird sound copyright reserved according to www.xeno-canto.org rules; more information, please contact us.