Chinese crested tern
thalasseus bernsteini latin

The Chinese Crested Tern is in a critical situation and three other species are classed as endangered.

In 2007 it was estimated that the Chinese crested tern would be extinct in 5 years if authorities would not protect it.

Oriental Bird Club - rediscovery of Chinese Crested Tern (with photo)

The Chinese Crested Tern (Thalasseus bernsteini, syn.

Chinese Crested Tern Sterna bernsteini (Schlegel 1863)

Four pairs of Chinese Crested Tern are found breeding on the Matsu Islands, the first sighting anywhere in the world since 1991.

A number of terns face serious threats, and the Chinese Crested Tern is classed as Critically Endangered by BirdLife International.

In 2000, four pairs of the critically endangered Chinese Crested Tern, previously thought to be extinct, were discovered nesting on the Matsu Islands, giving them global conservation importance.

This is a medium-large tern, very similar in size and general appearance to its three very close relatives Sandwich Tern, Elegant Tern and Chinese Crested Tern.

Chinese Crested Tern is the most similar to Sandwich, but has a reversal of the bill colour, yellow with a black tip; it does not overlap in range with Sandwich Tern so confusion is unlikely.

The Elegant Tern also differs in a slightly longer, slenderer bill, while Chinese Crested Tern differs in a black tip to the bill and Sandwich Tern a black bill with a yellow tip.

It is very closely related to the Lesser Crested Tern T. bengalensis, Chinese Crested Tern T. bernsteini, and Elegant Tern T. elegans, and has been known to interbreed with Lesser Crested.

The DNA study did not include the critically endangered Chinese Crested Tern (T. bernsteini), but as that bird was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Greater Crested Tern as a synonym of the subspecies T. b. cristatus, it is presumably also very closely related.

The Chinese Crested Tern (Thalasseus bernsteini, syn.