HEADLINE NEWS
Without a doubt, the biggest news of the review period was the discovery of southern Africa’s 979th confirmed species, a small group of Saunders’s Terns found on the San Sebastian Peninsula near Vilanculos in Mozambique. Some of the birds were observed in full breeding plumage (which makes them slightly easier to identify) and were performing what appeared to be a breeding display. This sighting follows that of a single individual seen at the same location in late August 2018, at the time also suspected to be a Saunders’s Tern, but the identification was never fully confirmed; further review of that record seems to indicate that it may well also be that species.
This poorly known tern breeds along the coasts of the Red Sea south to Socotra (Yemen) and Somalia, and around the Persian Gulf off Saudi Arabia, Iran and Oman to north-western India, Sri Lanka, Addu Atoll (Maldives), and possibly the Amirante Islands of the Seychelles. Individuals from north-eastern Africa move south as far as Tanzania in the boreal winter, and those around the Red Sea also travel south within the breeding range. Saunders’s Terns are resident in south-eastern Somalia, Sudan and Socotra, while other populations appear to migrate eastwards to the west coast of India, Sri Lanka, Laccadives and the Maldives, Seychelles and Malaysia.
This story is from the November 2019 edition of African Birdlife.
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This story is from the November 2019 edition of African Birdlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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