Sunday 20 May 2018

White-Winged Black Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)

OTHER NAMES: White-Winged Tern
Latin Etymology: Chlidonias ("swallow-like") leptopterus ("slender wing")
Summer Adult White-Winged Black Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) at Eyebrooke Reservoir, Rutland - May 2018

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 42-79g  /  Length: 23-27cm  /  Wingspan: 58-67cm
NO UK STATUS IUCN Red List: Least Concern

The White-Winged Black Tern is certainly one of those species which has a obliquely descriptive name; it indeed resembles pretty much a Black Tern except with white wings.  Unlike it's near namesake, it isn't a regular passage species to the UK instead only turning up as a vagrant as it migrates between Africa and Eastern Europe.

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Sternidae
Genus: Chlidonias
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -
UNITED KINGDOM - A rare vagrant
 - A single bird seen at  Eyebrooke Reservoir in May 2018.

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