| Sternula | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Little tern | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Laridae |
| Subfamily: | Sterninae |
| Genus: | Sternula F. Boie, 1822 |
| Type species | |
| Sterna minuta[1] Linnaeus, 1766 | |
| Species | |
7, see text | |
Sternula is a genus of small whiteterns, with a global distribution along sheltered sandy coasts and large rivers.
The seven species are all closely related, with similar plumage and size, all are between 22–28 cm long and 39–63 g weight. All are pale grey above, and white or very pale grey below; in all the outer primaries are darker grey (to nearly blackish), but the number of primaries that are dark varies slightly between the species. Most have a distinctive head pattern in the breeding season, with a black crown and eyeline, and a white forehead; one (fairy tern) differs in lacking the black eye line, and one (Damara tern) has a fully black crown with no white forehead in the breeding season. The legs and bill are mostly yellow (with or without a black tip) in the breeding season, but black in Damara tern. In all species the winter plumage has a more extensive white forehead, the bill is black, and the legs darker red-brown to blackish.[2]
Although the genus was first described in 1822 byFriedrich Boie, the species in the genus were generally retained within the larger genusSterna, the genus that holds most terns, until a study in 2005 showed that this treatment wasparaphyletic, with these seven species less closely related to typicalSterna terns, than several other terns long treated in other genera likeChlidonias andLarosterna.[3]
Sternula diverged early from other terns about 16 million years ago, with only the very differentnoddies (Anous andGygis), and the 'brown-backed'Onychoprion terns diverging earlier.[4] Despite the early origin of the genus, the current diversity within the genus is much more recent, with the species having a common ancestor around 4 million years ago.[4] Saunders's and least terns were both formerly considered to be subspecies of little tern.[2]
The genus name is a diminutive ofSterna, "tern".[5]
Seven species are accepted by theIOC World Bird List:[6]
| Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little tern
| Sternula albifrons (Pallas, 1764) Four subspecies
| temperate and tropical Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Saunders's tern
| Sternula saundersi (Hume, 1877) | north-western Indian Ocean | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Least tern
| Sternula antillarum Lesson, 1847 | North America and locally in northern South America. | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Yellow-billed tern
| Sternula superciliaris (Vieillot, 1819) | Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela. | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Peruvian tern
| Sternula lorata (Philippi & Landbeck, 1861) | Chile, Ecuador, and Peru | Size: Habitat: Diet: | EN |
| Fairy tern
| Sternula nereis (Gould, 1843) | Australia, New Caledonia,northern New Zealand | Size: Habitat: Diet: | VU |
| Damara tern
| Sternula balaenarum Strickland, 1853 | southern Africa and migrates to tropical African coasts | Size: Habitat: Diet: | VU |
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Authority control databases: National |
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