Greater Crested Tern

The greater crested tern, also called the crested tern, swift tern or great crested tern, is a tern in the family Laridae that nests in dense colonies on coastlines and islands across the tropical and subtropical Old World. Its four or five subspecies breed from South Africa around the Indian Ocean to the central Pacific and Australia, dispersing widely after nesting, and the species is distinguished from close relatives by its darker, battleship-grey upperparts, a white forehead even in full breeding plumage, and a greenish-tinged yellow bill.