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04 June 2017

Breeding Little Terns in Bahrain – Bird record by Jehad Alammadi

Jehad was looking for chicks or eggs for the Little Tern close to the area where the White Cheeked Tern gathers in Bahrain at the start of the breeding season. He found them in the beginning of the mating season when they were laying their eggs. Despite extensive searching he only found one pair of Little Tern with their nest. He kept well awat from the nest but was surprised that the bird leaves the nest well before anyone approaches. The birds remained away for a relatively long time and then returned close to the nest as many as ten times without sitting on the eggs. Finally they returned to the eggs in the nest, which consists of a small hole with two large eggs relative to the bird's small size. Little Tern does breed along the coast and inland but I have never seen a nest of one, although I do not search for them as hard as other people. I thank Jehad for sending me the details and allowing me to use his photos on my website.
Little Tern

Little Tern Eggs