Thalasseus bernsteini

The plumage is similar to that of the yellow-billed Tern. The summer plumage is black from the forehead through the eyes to the head of the occipital, and the crown feathers on the top of the head. The back, shoulders, and upper wing coverings are pale gray and almost white, while the plumage is darker. Primary feathers with white wedges inside. The upper tail cover and tail feathers are white. The tail feathers are deeply forked, and the outer tail feathers gradually become pointed. The cheeks, side of the neck, back of the neck, chin, throat and lower body are white. Underwing coverts and axils light gray. Winter feathers are similar to summer feathers, but the forehead and top of the head are white, and the top of the head has a black longitudinal stripe.
The iris is brown. The bill is slightly thicker than that of terns and slightly curved, yellow in color, with a black subterminal spot on the tip. Unlike the yellow-billed Tern, the bill turns completely yellow in winter. The fe

It is distributed in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. It breeds on the coast of Shandong, China, migrates and winters on the coasts of Guangdong, Fujian, the Philippines, Borneo, and the Malay Peninsula.
Chinese crested terns are found on coasts, island rocks, cliffs, beaches and oceans. It mainly inhabits coastal islands, preferring shallow sea depths and areas near the shore, and does not like water plants too high.

The Chinese Crested Tern is a medium-sized waterbird with no subspecies.

The Chinese crested tern is a summer migrant in northeastern China and a winter migrant in southern China. Every year from April to September, these mysterious seabirds arrive at the Eel Beach wetland at the mouth of the Minjiang River in Changle, Fujian Province, China, as the daily tide rises. Here they play, rest, and then float away. Changle Minjiang Estuary Eel Beach, the river wind and sea breeze, salt water and fresh water blend, flat and wide, the tide is slow, calm, is the eyes of seabirds paradise, all kinds of water birds gathered here. These Chinese crested terns have come a long way, to bathe, to mate, to dance, to show the world their best moments, and then to float away.

The Chinese crested tern frequently flies over the sea, with its beak pointing straight down and its wings flapping slowly, sometimes soaring in the air, where it can search for and spot underwater fish. When the fish is found, the two wings are closed, and suddenly dive into the water to hunt, and the wings rise immediately after the capture. Sometimes they float on the surface of the sea for long periods of time. Or bathe in the shallow waters of the sea. At night, it lives on overhangs or rocks on the shore. They feed mainly on fish. They also eat crustaceans, mollusks and other Marine invertebrates. Foraging is mainly on the surface.

April 16, 2021 news, recently, six national Class A protected animal Chinese crested terns appeared in Jinjiang City, Quanzhou, Fujian Weitou Bay. It is understood that six Chinese crested terns were observed this time, which is the largest number of local sightings since 2021.

On April 8, 2022, a total of six Chinese crested terns were found again in Weitou Bay, Jinjiang, Quanzhou. On May 21 of the same year, 86 Chinese crested terns were found in the Jiushan Islands National Nature Reserve in Xiangshan, Ningbo, setting a global observation record.

Chinese crested terns usually mate on the wetland beach at the mouth of the Minjiang River. Since April, Chinese crested terns that have just arrived in the mouth of the Minjiang River in China have begun to eat and seek a mate in preparation for breeding. Mixed colonies breed among thousands of large crested terns. The breeding time of Chinese crested Tern is from May to August, and the breeding time of Chinese crested Tern and large crested Tern is basically synchronized. They usually nest on sandy or sandy ground with sparse dwarf plants near the sea. The nest is very simple. It is mainly by the parent birds to dig a shallow pit on the sandy ground without any inner cushion. A pair of Chinese crested terns lays only one egg a year, which is incubated and reared jointly by the parents in turn. They feed on small fish in the upper ocean and are closely related to the health of the Marine ecosystem. Newly hatched Chinese crested tern chicks, all fluffy, white feathers covered with blackish brown spots. They usually stay in the nest for a few days before they can move around. While the parents are busy out fishing, the chicks gather together to wait for their parents to return. A Chinese crested tern stayed behind to take care of the little ones. By the end of August, this Matsu Island Chinese crested tern chick is becoming more and more like its parents, with plumping feathers and a hint of black beak.

The Chinese crested tern, the rarest bird in China, is listed as critically endangered on the Red List of Birds of the World, the most severe level of extreme near extinction.   The risk factors of Chinese crested tern are pollution and destruction of habitat. Global dependence on conservation (Collar et al., 1994). It's very rare. It was first recorded in 1861, but remained extremely rare until 2000, when it was widely considered extinct. However, in 2000, four adult birds and four young birds were rediscovered on the Matsu Islands off the coast of Fujian Province, making ornithology big news that year. In 2004, another breeding group was discovered in the Jiushan Islands off the coast of Zhejiang Province, and these two breeding groups are the two remaining in the world.

Listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN) 2018 ver 3.1 - Critically Endangered (CR).

Listed in China's "National Key Protected Wildlife List" (February 5, 2021).

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