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White Tern

Sir David Attenborough presents the widespread marine species, the white tern.

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Sir David Attenborough presents the widespread marine species, the white tern. Also known as fairy terns or angel terns, these are very slender, long-winged birds, brilliant white except for a black, slightly-upturned bill, dark eyes and very short blue-grey legs. In flight, their wings appear almost translucent. For such a delicate-looking bird, they have rather harsh calls. Unusually they lay their eggs on a bare branch. The female tern selects a small groove in the bark or on the leaf-stalks of palms where her single egg will be most secure. Here, on its tropical tightrope, the egg is safer from ground predators like rats and because there's no nesting material, there's less chance of parasites.

Producer : Andrew Dawes

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2 minutes

Last on

Tue 3 Jan 2023 05:58

White Tern (Gygis alba)

Webpage image courtesy of Dave Watts / naturepl.com.

NPL Ref © Dave Watts / naturepl.com.

Broadcasts

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