Adults: Breeding: Forehead to start of eye, white. Lores, white. Line through eye, cap, black. Eye, dark brown. Lower neck, whitish-grey. Back, wings, light pearl grey. Rump, tail, underparts, including underwing, white. Bill, orange-yellow. Legs, orange-yellow. Non-breeding: Similar to breeding plumage. Lores, white. Eye, dark brown. Rump, tail, whitish-grey. Bill, dull yellow, with base and tip black. Legs, orange-yellow.
Immatures: Similar to non-breeding adult, with white forehead and crown. Bill, black. Legs, dull orange-brown.
Other Scientific Names
Sternula nereis [Christidis and Boles (2008)]
Other Names (World)
Fairy Tern, Australian Fairy Tern, White-faced Ternlet, Little Tern, Sea-swallow, Little Sea-swallow, Ternlet, Nereis Tern
Australia (B), New Caledonia (B), New Zealand (B).
Population
Estimated population is 2,500 - 9,999 (2010) and decreasing.
Status VU
Habitat degradation, predation by introduced mammals and gulls and human disturbance are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Habits
Usually small to large flocks.
Food
Almost entirely fish. Also plant material, crustaceans and gastropods.
Voice
Hard, loud, 'tchi-wick'. An excited 'kirrikiki-kirrikiki'. A rapid, high-pitched, 'ket-ket-ket-ket'.
Fairy Tern (Sternula nereis) [XC881672]
by Drew Davison from Rottnest Island, City of Cockburn, Western Australia, Australia (call)
Fairy Tern (Sternula nereis) [XC609299]
by id from Pelican Point, Crawley, City of Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia (?)
Nest
A depression in sand, often circled by small pebbles and shell fragments. In loose colonies.
Eggs (Guide)
1 - 3; stone-grey blotched dark brown; long-oval; about 34 x 25 mm. Incubation: about 20 days; by both sexes.
Young
Semi-precocial. Fledge in about 21 - 23 days.
Subspecies
Overlaps in south-eastern Australia with Little Tern (Sternula albifrons) with which it occasionally hybridizes.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
nereis (Gould, 1843) - South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.
davisae Mathews & Iredale, 1913 - Northern North I, New Zealand.
exsul Mathews, 1912 - New Caledonia and, possibly, Loyalty Island.
horni Mathews, 1912 - Western Australia.
Similar Species
White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus)
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.
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