Black-naped Tern

1. Thin black line from eye around nape contrasts with white crown and body

2. Black bill and legs; deeply forked white tail

3. Pale silvery-grey upperwings with black edge on outermost primaries

These terns breed in small colonies, typically of 5–2 pairs but sometimes up to 2 between September-December in North East Australia. Nests are shallow scrapes in sand, gravel, or coral, usually above the high tide line and sometimes outlined with shells or coral fragments. Clutch size is usually 1–2 eggs, which are incubated by both parents for 21–23 days. Chicks are downy white to yellow-buff with black spots and markings, and have reddish-orange bills and legs at hatching. Both adults share incubation and chick-rearing duties. Black-naped Terns feed almost exclusively on small fish (4–8 cm), caught by shallow plunge-diving or surface-dipping, and are often seen foraging close to their colonies.

Black-naped Terns are found on offshore coral and rocky islands, sand spits, and cays throughout tropical northern Australia, especially around the Great Barrier Reef and other island groups. They forage in shallow lagoons, over reefs, and in clear inshore waters, rarely venturing far from breeding colonies.