Races:
Sterna albifrons albifrons Pallas, 1764

Synonyms

Sterna albifrons minuta Linnaeus, 1766
Sterna albifrons innominata Zarudny et Loudon, 1902

Description

Common, in places rare breeding migrant. Inhabits sandy, pebbly or cockle-shell shore of rivers, sea and lakes without or with scarce vegetation, prefer islands near the shore. Appears in mid-April – May. Breeds in small colonies, of up to 50 pairs, together with waders or Common Tern often. Nest is shallow hole without lining or with several dry grasses. Clutches of 1-2, usually 3 eggs in end May – July. Both parents incubate and feed juveniles, which hatch from end June. Flying juveniles recorded from early July. Repeated nesting after loss of clutches occurs often. Autumn migration begins early, in late July. Breeding areas leave mostly in end August – early September, latest birds recorded in mid-September.

Distribution

Breeds and occurs on migration everywhere on reservoirs of plain Kazakhstan. One bird observed 25 August 1980 on Markakol’ lake.

References

Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005
Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999.