Common tern: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the common tern lives – recorded in 104 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Sterna hirundo
Group	Waders, gulls, terns & auks
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	104 countries
Continents	Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America
Class	Bird
Order	Charadriiformes
Family	Sternidae

Where does the common tern live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the common tern in 104 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America. Wikidata gives its range as: Belém, Africa, Brazil, South America, Indonesia, Burkina Faso.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the common tern endangered?

The common tern’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the common tern?

The common tern (Sterna hirundo) is a bird in the order Charadriiformes and the family Sternidae, genus Sterna. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the common tern

The common tern (Sterna hirundo) is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory, wintering in coastal tropical and subtropical regions. Breeding adults have light grey upperparts, white to very light grey underparts, a black cap, orange-red legs, and a narrow pointed bill. Depending on the subspecies, the bill may be mostly red with a black tip or all black. There are several similar species, including the partly sympatric Arctic tern, which can be separated on plumage details, leg and bill colour, or vocalisations.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Common tern (revision 1380659743), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q18875 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).