The African Royal Tern – Thalasseus albididorsalis or West African Crested Tern is a large tern of Type – seabird, Family Laridae and Order Charadriiformes. Note: there is a lot of conflicting Taxonomy data online, due to recent changes initiated by separating the African Royal Tern into a full species from the old Royal Tern. The term Royal Tern now refers to just the New World species, and the African species is now called the West African Crested Tern. For the moment I will keep the name African Royal Tern, which I believe will help in this transition period. In Africa it is found along the Atlantic coast from Morocco to Angola and in the AWB Region it is Resident in Mauritania and SW Western Sahara, north of there to Gibraltar it is a Winter Visitor along the coast. The story of the African Royal Tern Split can be read here.
Type - seabird - feeds by plunge diving, Resident Habitat - breeds on offshore islands of Mauritania and Senegambia, Winter Habitat - inshore Atlantic waters from Gibraltar to Angola, Order: Charadriiformes Family: Laridae Genus: Thalasseus Species - Thalasseus albididorsalis African Royal Tern - Species - africanbirdclub.org African Royal Tern - Species sheet - wikipedia.org African Royal Tern - Species - avibase African Royal Tern - Card - oiseaux.net African Royal Tern - Sounds & Maps - xeno-canto.org Additional Material... African Royal Tern - Images - google.com African Royal Tern -New Species Details - abdn.ac.uk African Royal Tern -Datazone - birdlife.org