NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Little Tern
Sternula albifrons (Pallas, 1764)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
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.
Wikipedia contributors, Little tern; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:18:15.199908+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Sternula albifrons (Pallas, 1764)
- Name authority
- (Pallas, 1764)
- Common name
- Little Tern
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Laridae
- Genus
- Sternula
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyLaridae
- genusSternula F. Boie, 1822
- speciesSternula albifrons (Pallas, 1764)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Sternula. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Peruvian TernSternula lorata (Philippi & Landbeck, 1861) | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Australian Fairy TernSternula nereis Gould, 1843 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-billed TernSternula superciliaris (Vieillot, 1819) | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Saunders's TernSternula saundersi (Hume, 1877) | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Least TernSternula antillarum R. Lesson, 1847 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Damara TernSternula balaenarum Strickland, 1853 | LaridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Australia
Europe & Northern Asia (excluding China)
Oceania
Southern Asia
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=824126 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:52G25. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.