This species occurs on the open sea up to 50 km off the coast, and only comes to offshore islands or to the mainland for resting on sandy beaches (Jennings 2010, Aspinall and Porter 2011). It forages in small groups by plunge-diving or surface-dipping (Jennings 2010). There is no information available about its diet in the UAE; elsewhere, it feeds predominantly on small pelagic fish, but it will opportunistically take cephalopods, crustaceans, insects and hatchling turtles (Urban et al. 1986, del Hoyo et al. 1996, Higgins and Davies 1996). The species also preys on chicks of White-cheeked Tern Sterna repressa and Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis (Jennings 2010). The species breeds in spring to early summer; in the UAE, eggs have been recorded between May and June (Jennings 2010). It breeds on offshore islands in large dense colonies of up to 1,000 pairs, often associated with Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis and other tern species (Jennings 2010). The colonies are located on open, sandy areas (Jennings 2010). On Qarnayn;Island, the nesting habitat is in the soft sandy areas on the northwestern part of the island. A single egg is laid on the bare sand; only during incubation and nestling stage, a shallow scrape develops (Jennings 2010). Juveniles leave the nests a few days after hatching and form crèches along the shoreline (Jennings 2010). After the breeding season, individuals breeding off the UAE coast migrate south as far as the coast of Kenya, while birds from the northern Arabian Gulf may winter in the UAE (Jennings 2010).