Little Tern

The little tern is a small tern, 21–25 centimetres long with a wingspan of 41–47 centimetres. Because of its size and the white forehead in breeding plumage, it is unlikely to be confused with other species apart from the fairy tern and Saunders's tern. The thin, sharp bill is yellow with a black tip and the legs are yellow. In winter the forehead is more extensively white, the bill black and the legs duller. The call is a loud, distinctive creaking noise. (Wikipedia, general species account)

It breeds on the coasts and inland waterways of temperate and tropical Europe, Asia, north and west Africa and eastern Australia, and some populations are migratory, wintering in the subtropical and tropical oceans as far south as South Africa and New Zealand. It breeds in colonies on gravel or shingle coasts and islands, laying two to four eggs on the ground, and defends its nest by attacking intruders. It feeds by plunge-diving for fish, on the coast or along larger inland rivers. (Wikipedia, general species account)