Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus) [XC772263]
by Vin\u00edcius Soares Domingues from Cape May, Cape May County, New Jersey, United States (begging call, call)
Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus) [XC268820]
by Paul Marvin from Pine Island Conservation Area, Merritt Island, Florida, United States (flight call)
Subspecies
Sometimes considered to form superspecies with Greater Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii). Racial variation questionable.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
albididorsalis (Hartert, 1921) - Mauritania to Guinea, occasionally further S. Winters south to Namibia.
maximus (Boddaert, 1783) - Southern California to Sinaloa, and Maryland (rarely New Jersey) to Texas, and through West Indies to the Guianas and possibly Brazil, with disjunct breeding populations on Yucatán, and in southern Brazil, Uruguay and northern Patagonia. Winters south to Peru and to Uruguay and Argentina.