West African Crested Tern

Thalasseus albididorsalis (Hartert, EJO, 1921)

West African Crested Tern, Thalasseus albididorsalis, is a tern of the family Laridae that breeds on the west African coast from Mauritania to Guinea. Outside the breeding season it ranges along the coast from Morocco in the north to Namibia in the south. It is a large crested tern with a shallowly forked tail and a long orange bill. In breeding plumage the underparts are white, the upperparts silvery grey, and the head black with a shaggy rear crest. The legs are black, and the non-breeding adult keeps the crest while losing most of the black on the head.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Laridae — Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Breeding range

Africa: coasts of Mauritania to Guinea (w Africa)

Nonbreeding range

to coasts of Morocco in n and s to Namibia