Sternula

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; Linnaeus, 1766
Species
	7, see text

Sternula is a genus of small white terns. It is often subsumed into the larger genus Sterna, although the most recent changes to the AOU checklist considers it a separate genus. The genus name is a diminutive of Sterna, "tern".

Species

Listed alphabetically.

Genus **Sternula** – F. Boie, 1822 – seven species
Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Little tern	Sternula albifrons (Pallas, 1764)	temperate and tropical Europe and Asia.	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Least tern	Sternula antillarum Lesson, 1847 Three subspecies S. a. athalassos – (Burleigh & Lowery, 1942) S. a. antillarum – (Lesson, 1847) S. a. browni – (Mearns, 1916)	North America and locally in northern South America.	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Damara tern	Sternula balaenarum Strickland, 1853	southern Africa and migrates to tropical African coasts	Size: Habitat: Diet:	VU
Peruvian tern	Sternula lorata (Philippi & Landbeck, 1861)	Chile, Ecuador, and Peru	Size: Habitat: Diet:	EN
Fairy tern	Sternula nereis (Gould, 1843) Three subspecies Australian fairy tern, Sternula nereis nereis (Gould, 1843) New Caledonian fairy tern, Sternula nereis exsul (Mathews, 1912) New Zealand fairy tern / Tara iti, Sternula nereis davisae (Mathews & Iredale, 1913)	Australia, New Caledonia,northern New Zealand	Size: Habitat: Diet:	VU
Saunders's tern	Sternula saundersi (Hume, 1877)	north-western Indian Ocean	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

Saunders's and least terns were both formerly considered to be subspecies of little tern.

References

^ "Laridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
^ Banks et al. 2007. Forty-eighth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Checklist of North American Birds. The Auk 124(1): 1109-1115.
^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 365. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
^ Shorebirds & allies Archived 2013-12-05 at the Wayback Machine, IOC World Bird List, ver.3.2.

[HM4-1] "Laridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-26.

[2] Banks et al. 2007. Forty-eighth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Checklist of North American Birds. The Auk 124(1): 1109-1115.

[job-3] Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 365. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.

[4] Shorebirds & allies Archived 2013-12-05 at the Wayback Machine, IOC World Bird List, ver.3.2.