Sterna aurantia
Silhouette: Sharon Wegner-Larsen · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The river tern or Indian river tern (Sterna aurantia) is a tern in the family Laridae, the largest species currently included in the genus Sterna of typical terns. It is a resident breeder along inland rivers from Pakistan east through the Indian subcontinent, to Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia, where it is uncommon. Unlike most Sterna terns, it is almost exclusively found on freshwater, rarely venturing even to tidal creeks.
It is a medium-large tern, 38–46 cm long with an 80–85 cm wingspan, distinctly larger than any other species in Sterna and more comparable in size to a Sandwich tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) or a lesser crested tern (T. bengalensis). It has dark grey upperparts, white or very pale grey underparts, a forked tail with long flexible streamers, and long pointed wings with pale grey primaries. The bill is stout for a tern, bright yellow in summer and duller yellow with a dusky tip in winter, and the legs bright red. It has a black cap in breeding plumage, which is more extensive than in other Sterna terns, extending well below the eye instead of barely or not below the eye. In winter the cap is greyish white, flecked and streaked with black, with... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Gir National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rajkot | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Kota | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Bhopal | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Hyderabad | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Vasai-Virar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Nagpur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Agra | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Surat | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Vadodara | 🇮🇳 India |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a River Tern sighting in Gir National Park on a given day, based on 50 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 43rd most-seen of the 135 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–March and October
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a River Tern in Gir National Park on a given day, against about 20% in January, April–May and September, the lowest months. Those are among Gir National Park's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain a month against 330 mm in July. July and August have too few records to rate.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most River Tern sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
4th of 10
Of the 10 parks where we can rate River Tern sightings, Gir National Park ranks 4th at about 30%. The best odds are in Ranthambore National Park (India, about 40%), Satpura National Park (India, about 30%) and Kaziranga National Park (India, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Charadriiformes
The closest relatives of the River Tern that you can see in Gir National Park (order Charadriiformes, Shorebirds and Allies) are Red-wattled Lapwing (about 70%), Indian Thick-knee (about 20%) and Common Sandpiper (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the River Tern is recorded against all the birds logged in Gir National Park (50 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
