By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, April 8: The elusive Chinese Crested Tern (Thalasseus bernsteini), last recorded in Sarawak in 1913, was sighted once again in February 2025 off the coast of Asajaya District, near Kota Samarahan—about an hour’s drive from Kuching.
Veterinarian and active member of the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) Kuching Branch Dr Ng Jia Jie was part of the lucky team present during this historic rediscovery.
“It was a dream-come-true moment to re-encounter this incredibly rare species in Sarawak after more than a century,” she said in a media release today.
The rare seabird was observed within a small flock of 10 to 20 Great Crested Terns (Thalasseus bergii), a species with which it often mingles due to overlapping ecological niches. The Chinese Crested Tern is slightly smaller—measuring 38 to 43 cm compared to the Great Crested Tern’s 43 to 53 cm—and both feature a black crown that peaks toward the back of the head. In their nonbreeding plumage, both also show a distinctive white forehead.
“I recognised the Chinese Crested Tern by the unmistakable black tip on its beak,” Dr Ng recalled.
The sighting is of immense significance given that there are estimated to be only around 50 adult Chinese Crested Terns left in the wild—meaning this one individual represents roughly two per cent of the global population.
The Chinese Crested Tern breeds along the eastern coast of China, Taiwan, and South Korea, and winters along the coasts of Southeast Asia, including Indonesia’s Maluku Islands and the Philippines’ Davao del Norte.
The species faces numerous threats including poaching, egg harvesting, severe weather such as typhoons, and habitat disruption due to shellfish fishing near breeding sites.
MNS Kuching Branch chairperson Rose Au described the moment as “a once-in-a-lifetime experience” for everyone fortunate enough to witness the bird.
The sighting occurred in the Bako-Buntal Bay Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) and Key Biodiversity Area (KBA), one of Malaysia’s 55 IBAs. Stretching 28km from the Santubong peninsula to the mouth of the Sadong River and covering an area of 35.9 square km, Bako-Buntal Bay includes two fully protected areas—Bako and Santubong National Parks—which together make up 17.6 per cent of the bay’s total area.
“Bako-Buntal Bay is a major wintering ground for migratory birds from Northeast Asia travelling along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway.
“It meets IBA criteria by supporting over 1% of the global populations of several threatened species during the northern hemisphere’s winter, including the Chinese Egret (Egretta eulophotes) and the Far Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis),” Au emphasised.
At the time of the sighting, the MNS Kuching Branch team was conducting monitoring activities for the Far Eastern Curlew as part of a project funded by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals and supported by the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC).
The unexpected appearance of the Chinese Crested Tern further underscores the global conservation importance of Bako-Buntal Bay. — DayakDaily
