# White-winged Tern

*Chlidonias leucopterus*

Unlike marine terns that plunge-dive for fish, the White-winged Tern delicately swoops to pluck insects directly from the air or skims them off the water surface.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Charadriiformes › Laridae › Chlidonias
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** decreasing
- **Biome:** wetland
- **Habitat:** Freshwater marshes, shallow lakes, wet meadows, and reservoirs.
- **Diet:** Primarily terrestrial and aquatic insects, as well as small fish and tadpoles.
- **Range:** Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia
- **Size:** Wingspan of 60-67 cm, body length of 20-24 cm, weighing 50-80 grams.
- **Lifespan:** 7-10 years
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Wetland degradation and drainage, water pollution, and loss of nesting vegetation.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. Maintain a safe distance of at least 30 meters, especially during the nesting season when they may dive-bomb intruders to defend their territory. If swooped, calmly walk away. They pose no physical danger to humans.

## About

The white-winged tern , or white-winged black tern ( Chlidonias leucopterus or Chlidonias leucoptera ), is a species of tern in the family Laridae. It is a small species generally found in or near bodies of fresh water across much of the world, including Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The genus name is from Ancient Greek khelidonios , "swallow-like", from khelidon , "swallow". The specific leptopterus is also Greek from leptos , "slender", and pteros , "feathered", itself from pteron , "wing".

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/98bf7269-4274-458c-b456-4b5d1fdea88f
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4514
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlidonias leucopterus
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/2694783/medium.jpg (Kim, Hyun-tae, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.