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Recordings
Scientific Name
Sterna sandvicensis
Arabic Name
خرشنة الساندويش
Kuwaiti name
خطاف
Family
Width
105.0 cm
Length
41.0 cm
Information
Uncommon passage migrant and winter visitor. Scarce summer visitor. Widespread along the outer coast in winter, sometimes out at sea. Up to 200 recorded in late January 2007.
Where in Kuwait
This species frequents sandy beaches, mudflats fringed by mangroves, harbours and is often seen feeding over outfalls and at sea - wherever these habitats may occur in Kuwait
In the world
It has an extremely large range with a fluctuating population and is migratory, undergoing post-breeding dispersive movements north and south to favoured feeding grounds before migrating southward. It breeds in Europe, east to the Caspian Sea, and winters in the Mediterranean, western and southern Africa, northwest India, and Sri Lanka. It is considered to be one of six species of ‘crested’ tern and is the only species to have a long, slender, black bill with a yellow tip
Local threats
Marine oil spills and pollution