A pale tern with a black band on the nape, it dives into the sea to catch fish and nests in groups on remote rocky islets.
Its body is whitish, with a black band on the nape, a black bill, and a deeply forked tail.
A 2023 survey in China’s Xisha Archipelago confirmed breeding by six species of terns and noddy. Black-naped Terns occurred on almost every surveyed island and had the widest spatial niche among the three tern species compared in detail.
Researchers measured 20 Black-naped Tern nests. The birds preferred open areas, avoided vegetation and lined nests with reef debris. Compared with Bridled and Roseate Terns, they also bred earlier and for a longer period in the study area.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
In the Xisha comparison, researchers measured 20 Black-naped Tern nests in open areas with reef debris. The species bred earlier and over a longer period than the other two terns studied at the same site.