Bird Album
Chinese Crested Tern
Thalasseus bernsteini (Schlegel, 1863)
38 cmLength284 gWeight
It is a critically endangered pale gray tern with a black-tipped yellow bill and black crest, the entire crown black in the breeding season.
Busiest months: May · Most records: China, Philippines
Looks like Sandwich Tern, Greater Crested Tern, Lesser Crested Tern
How to identify
Field marks
- Bill yellow with outer third black and tip white
- Crest black; entire crown black in the breeding season
- Back and wings pale silver-gray
- Tail white and forked like a swallow’s
Similar species
Chinese Crested Tern and Sandwich Tern are similar in plumage, size and shape, but differ in the bill: Chinese Crested Tern has a yellow bill with a black tip, the reverse of Sandwich Tern.
Greater Crested Tern is larger, with darker back and wings and an all-yellow bill; Chinese Crested Tern has a black bill tip.
Chinese Crested Tern has a white rump, paler gray back feathers and black at the bill tip; Lesser Crested Tern has a bright orange-red bill.
Where and when it's recorded
Chinese Crested Tern has been recorded at 26 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 2 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.
Countries and regions with the most records
eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.
About
The Chinese crested tern (Thalasseus bernsteini) is a tern in the family Laridae. It is the county bird of Lienchiang County, Fuchien.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Chinese Crested Tern?
The Chinese Crested Tern is about 38 cm long and weighs around 284 g.
Where does the Chinese Crested Tern live?
Its breeding range: Palearctic: islands off Zhejiang and Fujian (eastern China coast). It is most often recorded in China and Philippines.
When is the best time to see the Chinese Crested Tern?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in May (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Chinese Crested Tern endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Chinese Crested Tern as Critically Endangered.
What does the Chinese Crested Tern eat?
Main food: Fish, shrimp & shellfish.
What family is the Chinese Crested Tern in?
It belongs to the family Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae), order Charadriiformes.
At a glance
- Length
- 38 cm
- Weight
- 284 g
- Habitat
- Coast & tidal flats
- Diet
- Fish, shrimp & shellfish
- Lifestyle
- Feeds in the air
- Migration
- Migratory
- Conservation
- Critically Endangered
More measurements
- Wing
- 319 mm
- Tail
- 161 mm
- Bill
- 60 mm
- Tarsus
- 30 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Palearctic: islands off Zhejiang and Fujian (eastern China coast)
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Classification
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Gulls, Terns, Skimmers Laridae
- Genus
- Thalasseus
Other birds in the genus Thalasseus
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
Cabot's TernThalasseus acuflavidus
Elegant TernThalasseus elegansLesser Crested TernThalasseus bengalensis
West African Crested TernThalasseus albididorsalis
Royal TernThalasseus maximusGreater Crested TernThalasseus bergii
African SkimmerRynchops flavirostris
Indian SkimmerRynchops albicollis
Black SkimmerRynchops niger
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Oregon State University. ↗
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