well as at sea. Breeding Breeding is in spring and summer, with one to three pale blue-green eggs, with heavy brown spotting, being laid. They nest either together in colonies, or singly in mixed colonies of other tern and gull species. The nest is on the ground among gravel and sand, or sometimes on vegetation; incubation lasts for 26–28 days. The chicks are variable in plumage pattern, from pale creamy to darker grey-brown; this variation assists adults in recognizing their own chicks when returning to the colony from feeding trips. Fledging occurs after 35–45 days. Gallery References External links Caspian Tern species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds Caspian tern Birds of Central Asia Birds of Eurasia Birds of Madagascar Birds of North America Birds of the Dominican Republic Birds of Oceania Birds of West Africa Birds of Africa Caspian tern Cosmopolitan birds Holarctic birds