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Onychoprion lunatus, Gray-backed tern

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Onychoprion lunatus   Peale, 1848

Gray-backed tern
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Aves | Charadriiformes | Laridae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Pelagic.  Tropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Indo-Pacific.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 38.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 8812); max. published weight: 140.00 g (Ref. 356)

Short description Morphology

Wing: 28.0 cm.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Total Length: 35 to 38 cm; Wingspan: 73 to 76 cm (Ref. 8812). Found along the coast and continental shelf (Ref. 356). Exclusively marine. Breeds singly or in loose colonies, typically along cliffs (Ref. 91362). Breeding colonies may be found on tropical islands, along beaches and low sea cliffs. Heavily preyed on by rats (Ref. 84934). Exhibits dipping behavior (Ref. 356). Feeds mainly by plunge diving or by dipping the surface while hovering. Diet primarily consists of fish, especially five-horned cowfish, juvenile flyingfish, goatfish, herring, and dolphinfish, but also eats squid, crustaceans, mollusks and insects (marine and terrestrial) (Ref. 122680).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

SAUP Database. 2006. (Ref. 356)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 07 August 2018

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses


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References

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 23.5 - 28.9, mean 26.2 (based on 33 cells).
Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Low to moderate vulnerability (28 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

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