Academic editor: Nikhil Modak © Abhijeet Bayani. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
Bayani A (2020) New record of the Endangered Black-bellied Tern, Sterna acuticauda J.E. Gray 1831, from Tungabhadra River at Siruguppa, Bellary, Karnataka, India. Check List 16(5): 1415-1419. https://doi.org/10.15560/16.5.1415 |
Black-bellied Tern, Sterna acuticauda J.E. Gray, 1831, is an Endangered species currently restricted to a few patches along the major rivers and lakes in the Indian subcontinent. I report it from Tungabhadra River at Siruguppa for the first time. Five individuals in breeding plumage were observed at a 6 km stretch of river, sampled using line transect method. Previous records, with this new locality, suggest that the population of Black-bellied Tern could be fragmented. This new site could be a promising breeding ground for the species; nevertheless, it is under threat owing to uncontrolled sand mining.