Whiskered Terns follow the floodwaters

Whiskered Tern over waterlogged paddock Coonamble/Quambone Rd

Until we saw Whiskered Terns in the freshly inundated Macquarie Marshes a couple of months ago, we didn't realise that terns ventured inland.

On boxing day we decided to try our luck at reaching the Marshes knowing that the bird-life would be spectacular following early summer flooding, but water over the road prevented us from getting far.  However, we still enjoyed some beaut bird sightings, the best being Whiskered Terns hawking and diving over a water-logged paddock on the Coonamble/Quambone Road.  There were also Black-winged Stilts in the same paddock.

In their breeding colours, and with the sun shining through their outstretched wing and tail feathers, the terns made an impressive sight.  They ventured right overhead, and quite low down - I don't know if this was aggressive behaviour or not, but we certainly had a birds eye view of these lovely birds.  It was a special encounter.

I started my bird list from the Merri Merri Bridge at the T-section of Quambone/Carinda Rd and Sandy Camp Rd.  We only got a few kilometers before we turned back, and I recorded 31 species, so I can just imagine the bird sightings if we had reached the flooded Marshes.

[Whiskered Tern images by my husband, Grahame]
Click on images to enlarge

Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage

Light shines through wing and tail feathers

Fact File - Whiskered Tern

Scientific name - Chlidonias hybridus

Distribution - 'In Australia, the Whiskered Tern is scattered in most regions of the mainland except for the arid zones.This species breeds in highly disjunct (separated) populations across southern Europe and Asia, in south-eastern Africa and Madagascar, and in Australia. It occurs as a migrant, vagrant or winter visitor throughout Europe, Africa and Australia.'

Habitat - 'The Whiskered Tern prefers shallow terrestrial freshwater wetlands, freshwater swamps, brackish and saline lakes, floodwaters, sewage farms, irrigated croplands and large dams.'

Seasonal movements - 'Whiskered Terns are migratory and nomadic. In Australia generally, they are found on the coast and the interior, but are only vagrant in Tasmania. Breeding is mainly south of 25° S, being most numerous in the south-east interior. They are widely distributed throughout the mainland when not breeding. Large numbers of Australian birds migrate into Indonesia and South-East Asia, mainly via the Top End.'

Feeding - 'Whiskered Terns eat mainly small fish, amphibians, crustaceans, insects and their larvae.'

Breeding - 'The breeding season of the Whiskered Tern is erratic. They breed in loose colonies in large, often temporary, inland swamps and marshes. The nest is a rough raft of vegetation, either floating or moored. The sexes share nest-building, incubation and care of the young. A single brood is usually raised in a season.'

Reference -  Birds in Backyards