About Sterna repressa E.Hartert, 1916
The white-cheeked tern, with the scientific name Sterna repressa E.Hartert, 1916, is a tern species that belongs to the family Laridae. This species can be found along coasts ranging from the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa down to Kenya, as well as in the Persian Gulf, and along the Iranian coast extending to Pakistan and western India. Its overall distribution covers the tropical and subtropical coasts of the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean. The International Union for Conservation of Nature currently lists the white-cheeked tern as a species of Least Concern. However, regional populations of this tern may encounter specific threats, including predation by invasive species and habitat degradation. The white-cheeked tern lives in tropical coastal areas and inshore waters. It mainly forages over coral reefs within 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) of land. It builds its nest as a shallow scrape, located on rock, sand, gravel or coral islands, bare and exposed sandflats, and sparsely vegetated open ground on sand-dunes and above the high-water mark on beaches.
