Smallest of the terns. Tail moderatey forked. Sexes alike.
Adults: Breeding: Forehead to just above eye, white. Lores, black. Line through eye, cap, black. Eye, dark brown. Lower neck, whitish-grey. Back, wings, light pearl grey, outer two primaries mostly black. Rump, tail, underparts, including underwing, white. Bill, yellow with a black tip. Legs, yellow. Non-breeding: Similar to breeding plumage but crown pale grey. Lores, white with black spot before eye continuing through eye to black nape. Eye, dark brown. Rump, tail, whitish-grey. Bill, olive brown with black tip. Legs, olive brown.
Immatures: Similar to non-breeding adult, but wing feathers may be edged with buff or light brown. Legs, olive brown.
Other Scientific Names
Sternula albifrons [AOU checklist (1998 + supplements)], Sternula albifrons [Christidis and Boles (2008)]
Other Names (World)
Little Tern, White-shafted Ternlet, Black-lored Tern, Sea-swallow, Least Tern
Afghanistan (B), Albania (B), Algeria, Armenia (B), Australia (B), Austria (P), Azerbaijan (B), Bahrain (NB) (P), Bangladesh, Belarus (B), Belgium (B), Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria (B), Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, China (mainland), Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska) (B), Cyprus (B), Czech Republic (B), Denmark (B) (P), Djibouti, Egypt (B), Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia (B), Finland (B) (P), France (B) (NB) (P), Gabon, Gambia, Georgia (B), Germany (B) (P), Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece (B) (P), Guam (NB), Guinea (NB), Guinea-bissau, Hong Kong (China), Hungary (B), India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of] (B) (P), Iraq (B) (NB), Ireland (B), Israel (B), Italy (B), Japan, Jordan (B) (P), Kazakhstan (B), Kenya, Kuwait (B) (P), Kyrgyzstan (B), Laos, Latvia (B), Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Lithuania (B) (P), Macedonia [The Former Yugoslav Republic of] (B), Malaysia (NB), Mali, Marshall Islands (NB), Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia [Federated States of] (NB), Moldova [Republic of] (B), Mongolia (B), Montenegro (B), Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles (B), New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea (B), Northern Mariana Islands (B), Norway (B), Oman, Pakistan, Palau (NB), Palestinian Authority Territories (NB), Papua New Guinea (B), Philippines, Poland (B), Portugal (B), Qatar, Romania (B) (P), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B) (P), Saudi Arabia, Senegal (B), Serbia (B), Singapore, Slovakia (Slovak Republic) (B), Slovenia (B), Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain (B) (NB) (P), Sri Lanka, Sweden (B), Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic (B), Taiwan (China), Tajikistan (B), Tanzania [United Republic of], Thailand, Timor-Leste (B) (NB), Togo, Tunisia, Turkey (B), Turkmenistan (B), Ukraine (B) (P), United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (B), Uzbekistan (B), Vietnam, Western Sahara.
Vagrant to Angola, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Colombia, Faroe Islands, Kiribati, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Maldives, Malta, Namibia, New Caledonia, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, USA, Yemen.
Population
Estimated population is 190,000 - 410,000 (2010).
Status LC
Habitat destruction, human disturbance (including birdwatchers) at coastal and inland nesting sites and pesticide pollution are the main threats.
Habits
In pairs or small groups. Has rapid fluttering wing beats, often hovering before diving head first into water for prey.
Food
Carnivorous. Mainly small fish. Also crustaceans, insects, annelids and molluscs.
Voice
An excited, sharp, high-pitched, 'kweek'. An urgent 'tee-eep tee-eep tee-eep'. A rasping and churring 'kierr-ink' call. A short, distinctive, 'kik'. Chitterings.
Little Tern (Sternula) [XC114502]
by Jos\u00e9 Carlos Sires from Inner Mongolia, nr Tumuji Town, China (begging call, flight call)
Little Tern (Sternula) [XC333709]
by Jos\u00e9 Carlos Sires from salinas de bonanza, sanl\u00facar de barrameda, c\u00e1diz, andaluc\u00eda, Spain (flight call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Mainly Septmeber - January in south-eastern Australia, May - July in Gulf of Carpentaria.
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Nest
A shallow depression in sand, on a beach, in sand or gravel, unlined, above the high water mark. In loose colonies.
Eggs (Guide)
1 - 3, usually 2, rarely 3; stone with small spots and blotches of black and purple-brown; long-oval; about 32 x 24 mm. Incubation: 18 - 22 days; by both sexes.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous. Fledge in 17 - 19 days. Both parents brood newly hatched chicks.
Some authors treat Least Tern (Sternula antillarum), and sometimes Saunders's Tern (Sternula saundersi), as conspecific with Little Tern (Sternula albifrons).
Validity of subspecies innominata and placens questionable.
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:
albifrons (Pallas, 1764) - Europe through western Asia east to Nepal, and presumably this race also in Kenya (breeding at L Turkana), and in western Indian Ocean (Seychelles and Comoro Is, where resident, but breeding not confirmed). Winters on coasts from Africa east to western India.
guineae (Bannerman, 1931) - Ghana to Gabon, with marginal population in Mauritania and Senegal which may be this race or nominate.
innominata Zarudny and Loudon, 1902 - Islands in Persian Gulf.
pusilla Temminck, 1840 - North-eastern India and Myanmar, islands off Sumatra and Java, and probably this race in Sri Lanka.
sinensis (Gmelin, JF, 1789) - South-eastern Russia, China, Japan, south-eastern Asia, Philippines and New Guinea; recent colonist to Micronesia (Saipan) east to Hawaii most likely this race, and possibly also some birds in Australia, New Britain and nearby waters; northern populations mostly winter in Malaysia.
placens Gould, 1871 - Eastern Australia and eastern Tasmania.
Similar Species
Fairy Tern (Sternula nereis)
Slightly larger. Breeding with breeding. Head slightly larger and more rounded in profile. Lores white. Underwing primaries are lighter. In early breeding plumage also has a black tip to the bright orange bill. Shorter legs and bulkier body giving a round-bellied appearance. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Underwing primaries are lighter. Bill is dull yellow with a black tip.
White-winged Black Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)
Slightly larger. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Has longer wings, is bulkier and has a shallower tail fork. Bill never contains any yellow. Legs flesh grey to orange.
Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida)
Larger. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Has longer wings, is bulkier and has a shallower tail fork. Bill never contains any yellow. Legs reddish brown.
Saunders's Tern (Sternula saundersi)
Similar size. Breeding with breeding. Has grey rump to tail center. Wedge of outer primaries blacker and wider. Legs are brownish or olive. However, non-breeding and immatures with non-breeding and immature are practically indistinguishable in the field.
Saunders's Tern (Sternula saundersi) is a rare vagrant to Australia. Currently only observed on Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet