Critically Endangered
Chinese Crested Tern
Thalasseus bernsteini
The Chinese crested tern is a tern in the family Laridae.
Appearance
It is most similar to the former, differing in the bill pattern, that is the reverse of the Sandwich tern's, being yellow with a black tip. The bill is also stouter, like Cabot's. Like these, it has a full black crown in the breeding season, a pale, silvery-grey back and wings, and a white tail. From the lesser crested tern, that it overlaps in wintering distribution, it can be told by the white rump and paler grey mantle, as well as the black tip to the stouter bill, that seen from up close also has a white point.
It is a medium-large tern 38–43 cm long, closely similar in appearance to Sandwich tern T. Sandvicensis, Cabot's tern T. Acuflavidus, and lesser crested tern T. Bengalensis.
Range and habitat
Four pairs were rediscovered in 2000 nesting in a greater crested tern colony on an islet in the Matsu Islands (a territory governed by Taiwan), just off the coast of Fujian Province, China, and wintering south to the Philippines. This colony may have been protected due to the islands' disputed status (administered by the Taiwanese government but claimed by mainland China), and the military sensitivity of the area, that has restricted access.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
In crisis
It is a critically endangered species, and previously thought extinct. The decline is thought to be due to past hunting and egg collection for food. The total population is speculated to be less than 50 birds.
In 2007, it was estimated that the Chinese crested tern would be extinct in five years if authorities would not protect it. BirdLife International stated that a survey of Chinese experts found that the number of crested terns fell to 50 birds, half the population of 2004.
Chinese Crested Tern is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Chinese Crested Tern, Wikidata item Q430191. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
