Skimmers, Noddies, Terns, and Gulls
Little Tern
Sternula albifrons
LCLeast Concern
- Family
- Skimmers, Noddies, Terns, and Gulls (Laridae)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
Overview
The little tern (Sternula albifrons) is a small seabird of the family Laridae. It is widely distributed breeding on the coasts and inland waterways of Europe, Asia, north and west Africa, and eastern Australia. It winters in the subtropical and tropical oceans as far south as South Africa and Australia.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Continents
Countries
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Armenia
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Benin
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Brunei
- Bulgaria
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Chad
- China
- Comoros
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- DR Congo
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Estonia
- Fiji
- Finland
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece
- Guam
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Hungary
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kiribati
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Micronesia
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Palestine
- Papua New Guinea
- Philippines
- Poland
- Republic of the Congo
- Reunion
- Romania
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uzbekistan
- Vietnam
- Western Sahara
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Little tern
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
