Whiskered Tern
The whiskered tern is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek khelidonios, "swallow-like", from khelidon, "swallow". The specific hybridus is Latin for hybrid; Peter Simon Pallas thought it might be a hybrid of white-winged black tern and common tern, writing "Sterna fissipes [Chlidonias leucopterus] et Hirundine [Sterna hirundo] natam".
Summary from Wikipedia
Hear it on xeno-canto Community recordings — opens xeno-canto →In Türkiye
Arrives in spring and leaves in autumn; winter records are almost absent.
Most records in May and July–September.
Provinces where it makes up the largest share of bird records.
Adjusted for how many birdwatchers are out each month; the busiest month = 100%.
5,148 records from Türkiye · #170 of 634 species by number of records. Source: GBIF.org (October 2026). All birds of Türkiye
At a glance
The whiskered tern is a freshwater tern that, unlike sea terns, picks insects and tadpoles from the surface and nests on floating plants.
Similar birds
All birds
Heard this one in the wild?
Record it and Birdy will confirm — then it's in your journal.