# Little tern > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Little_tern > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Little_tern.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_tern > Source revision: 1355125769 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = {{cite iucn |author1=[BirdLife International](/source/BirdLife_International) |year=2019 |title=''Sternula albifrons'' |volume=2019 |amends=2018 |article-number=e.T22694656A155476219 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22694656A155476219.en |access-date=1 September 2024}} | image = Крячок малий.jpg | image_caption = Adult ''S. a. albifrons'' in breeding plumage, Lyubikovichi, Ukraine | genus = Sternula | species = albifrons | authority = ([Pallas](/source/Peter_Simon_Pallas), 1764) | synonyms = *''Sterna albifrons'' ([protonym](/source/protonym)) *''Sterna minuta'' {{small|Linnaeus, 1766}} |synonyms_ref = | range_map = SternulaAlbifronsIUCN.png | range_map_caption = Range of ''S. albifrons'' (compiled by BirdLife International and Handbook of the Birds of the World, 2019){{leftlegend|#00FF00|Breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#008000|Resident|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#00FFFF|Passage|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#007FFF|Non-breeding|outline=gray}} }} The '''little tern''' ('''''Sternula albifrons''''') is a [seabird](/source/seabird) of the family [Laridae](/source/Laridae). It was first described by the German naturalist [Peter Simon Pallas](/source/Peter_Simon_Pallas) in 1764 and given the [binomial name](/source/binomial_name) ''Sterna albifrons''.{{cite book | last1=Peters | first1=James Lee | author-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 2 | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place= Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=340 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483153 }}{{cite journal | last=Sherborn | first=C. Davies | year=1905 | title=The new species of birds in Vroeg's catalogue, 1764 | journal=Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections | volume=47 | pages=332–341 [339] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8812106 }} Includes a transcript of the 1764 text.{{cite journal | last1=Rookmaaker | first1=L.C. | last2=Pieters | first2=F.F.J.M. | year=2000 | title=Birds in the sales catalogue of Adriaan Vroeg (1764) described by Pallas and Vosmaer | journal=Contributions to Zoology | volume=69 | issue=4 | pages=271–277 | doi=10.1163/18759866-06904005 | url=http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/571856 | doi-access=free }} It was moved to the genus ''[Sternula](/source/Sternula)'' when the genus ''[Sterna](/source/Sterna)'' was restricted to the larger typical [tern](/source/tern)s.{{cite journal|last1=Bridge|first1=E. S. |last2=Jones |first2= A. W. |last3=Baker|first3= A. J. |year=2005 |url=http://www2.hawaii.edu/~khayes/Journal_Club/summer2006/Bridge_et_al_2005_MPE.pdf |title=A phylogenetic framework for the terns (Sternini) inferred from mtDNA sequences: implications for taxonomy and plumage evolution|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720204025/http://www2.hawaii.edu/~khayes/Journal_Club/summer2006/Bridge_et_al_2005_MPE.pdf |archive-date=20 July 2006 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=35|issue=2 |pages=459–469|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2004.12.010 |pmid=15804415 }} The genus name ''Sternula'' is a diminutive of ''Sterna'', 'tern', while the specific name ''albifrons'' is from [Latin](/source/Latin) ''albus'', 'white', and ''frons'', 'forehead'.{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages = 38, 365}} ==Subspecies== There are four [subspecies](/source/subspecies). * The [nominate](/source/nominate_(taxonomy)) ''S. a. albifrons'' occurs in Europe to North Africa and western Asia * ''S. a. guineae'' of western Africa * ''S. a. sinensis'' in eastern Asia (SE Russia to Japan, SE Asia, Philippines) south to New Guinea and northern Australia * ''S. a. placens'' on the east coast of Australia and Tasmania.{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/gulls/ |title=Noddies, skimmers, gulls, terns, skuas, auks |website=IOC World Bird List |version =v 14.1 |editor-last1=Gill |editor-first1= F. |editor-last2=Donsker|editor-first2=D.|editor-last3=Rasmussen |editor-first3=P. |date=January 2024 |access-date=26 June 2024 }}Higgins, P.J. & S.J.J.F. Davies (eds) 1996. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 3: Snipe to Pigeons. Oxford University Press, Melbourne. {{ISBN|0-19-553070-5}} The former North American subspecies (''S. a. antillarum'') and [Red Sea](/source/Red_Sea) subspecies ''S. a. saundersi'' are now considered to be separate species, the [least tern](/source/least_tern) (''Sternula antillarum'') and [Saunders's tern](/source/Saunders's_tern) (''Sternula saundersi''), respectively. ==Distribution== This bird breeds on the coasts and inland waterways of temperate and tropical Europe, Asia, north and west Africa, and eastern Australia. It is strongly [migratory](/source/bird_migration), wintering in the subtropical and tropical oceans as far south as South Africa and New Zealand.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Southey |first=I. |date=2023 |title=Little tern / tara teo |url= https://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/little-tern |editor-last=Miskelly |editor-first=C. M. |encyclopedia=New Zealand Birds Online |access-date=20 May 2026}} ==Description== This is a small tern, 21–25 cm long with a 41–47 cm wingspan. It is not likely to be confused with other species, apart from [fairy tern](/source/fairy_tern) and Saunders's tern, because of its size and white forehead in breeding plumage. Its thin sharp bill is yellow with a black tip and its legs are also yellow. In winter, the forehead is more extensively white, the bill is black and the legs duller. ==Habitat and behaviour== The little tern breeds in colonies on gravel or shingle coasts and islands. It lays two to four eggs on the ground. Like all white terns, it is defensive of its nest and young and will attack intruders. Like most other white terns, the little tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, either in coastal saline environments, or inland, along larger rivers. The offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display. The call is a loud and distinctive creaking noise. == Populations on European rivers == At the beginning of the 19th century the little tern was a common bird of European shores, rivers and wetlands, but in the 20th century populations of coastal areas decreased because of habitat loss, pollution and human disturbance. The loss of inland populations has been even more severe, since due to dams, river regulation and sediment extraction it has lost most of its former habitats. The little tern population has declined or become extinct in many European countries, and former breeding places on large rivers like the [Danube](/source/Danube), [Elbe](/source/Elbe) and [Rhine](/source/Rhine) ceased. Nowadays, only a few river systems in Europe possess suitable habitats; the Loire/Allier in [France](/source/France), the Vistula/Odra in [Poland](/source/Poland), the Po/Ticino in [Italy](/source/Italy), the Daugava in [Latvia](/source/Latvia), the Nemunas in [Lithuania](/source/Lithuania), the Sava in [Croatia](/source/Croatia) and the Drava in [Hungary](/source/Hungary) and Croatia. The status of the little tern on the rivers Tagus and lower Danube is uncertain. The Drava population is one of the most threatened. Old-fashioned water management practices, including river regulation and sediment extraction, endanger the remaining pairs. Only 15 pairs still breed on extensive sand or gravel banks along the border between Hungary and Croatia. The [WWF](/source/World_Wildlife_Fund) and its partners are involved in working for the protection of this bird and this unique European river ecosystem. The little tern is one of the species to which the ''Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds'' ([AEWA](/source/AEWA)) applies. ==Gallery== File:Sternula albifrons Tokyo Bay 1.jpg|''S. a. sinensis'' in flight, Tokyo Bay, Japan File:Sternula albifrons - Boat Harbour.jpg|''S. a. placens'', Boat Harbour, New South Wales, Australia File:Little tern(Sternula albifrons) 6.jpg|''S. a. albifrons'' in winter plumage, Kannur, Kerala, India File:Little Tern chick, Hampshire, UK (49986661853).jpg|''S. a. albifrons'', recently hatched chick, Hampshire, UK File:Sterna albifrons MWNH 0425.JPG|Egg, Collection [Museum Wiesbaden](/source/Museum_Wiesbaden) == References == {{Reflist}} == Further reading == {{Commons category|Sternula albifrons}} {{Wikispecies|Sternula albifrons}} * [https://app.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob6240.htm BTO Little tern fact sheet] * Little tern - [http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/335.pdf Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds] * {{field guide birds of the world|Sterna albifrons}} (photographs) * [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-28123237 BBC Norfolk news item] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20170928182145/http://sterna-albifrons.net/ Little tern] {{Taxonbar|from=Q12267692}} little tern Category:Birds of Eurasia Category:Birds of North Africa Category:Birds of West Africa Category:Wintering birds of Southern Africa Category:Wintering birds of Oceania Category:Nature Conservation Act endangered biota little tern Category:Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Little tern](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_tern) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_tern?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.