BREEDING ECOLOGY OF THE LITTLE TERN

---

·       Little Tern birds are migratory birds of Bangladesh. They often visit Bangladesh during the Winter season. Plenty of Foods are available in Bangladesh which help them during the breeding period. The little tern is a common resident as well as a winter visitor to Rajshahi, Bangladesh. It is a small, slender, and streamlined bird with a pair of narrow, sharp-pointed wings and a forked tail. These features adapt it well to a swift and graceful flight as well as plunge-diving for fish from a height above the water. The white belly helps to reduce its conspicuousness to underwater prey when the bird is flying over the water foraging. It has been breeding on Rajshahi Island ‘s coastal sandhills.

·         Courtship starts with an aerial display involving the male calling and carrying fish to attract a mate.

·         A female will chase him up high before he descends and back on the beach she may accept the fish offered. Once an offering has been accepted they will then mate. Their nests are shallow scrapes on sand where they normally lay 2-3 eggs.