| Marsh terns | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Black-fronted tern (above) Chlidonias albostriatus | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Laridae |
| Genus: | Chlidonias Rafinesque, 1822 |
| Type species | |
| Sterna melanops[1] Rafinesque, 1822 | |
| Species | |
| |
The namemarsh tern refers toterns of the genusChlidonias, which typically breed in freshwater marshes, rather than coastal locations.
The genusChlidonias was introduced in 1822 by the French polymathConstantine Samuel Rafinesque withSterna melanops Rafinesque =Sterna surinamensisGmelin, J.F. as thetype species.[2][3] The nameChlidonias is fromAncient Greekkhelidonios, "swallow-like", fromkhelidon, "swallow".[4]
The genus contains four species:[5]
| Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black tern
| Chlidonias niger (Linnaeus, 1758) Two subspecies
| Europe, Western Asia and North America. | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| White-winged tern or white-winged black tern
| Chlidonias leucopterus (Temminck, 1815) | Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Whiskered tern
| Chlidonias hybrida (Pallas, 1811) | Europe and the Palearctic (northwestern Africa and central and southern Europe to southeastern Siberia, eastern China and south to Pakistan and northern India) | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Black-fronted tern
| Chlidonias albostriatus (Gray, 1845) | New Zealand[6] | Size: Habitat: Diet: | EN |
Notice the hesitation in the gender of the epithet of the scientific names, as they are usually masculine (albostriatus, leucopterus orniger), but in the case of the whiskered tern is mostly used as feminine (hybrida), maybe from the influence of the previous gender used,Sterna.
Theblack-bellied tern (Sterna acuticauda) and thewhite-cheeked tern (Sterna repressa) might also be placed inChlidonias.
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 | ThisCharadriiformes-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
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