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Little Tern (Sternula albifrons) Size: 21-25 cm; wing span: 41-47 cm Body mass: 42-65 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.24

Australia: Family Group 10 Family Group 10 Table Brown Skua South Polar Skua Arctic Jaeger Pomarine Jaeger Long-tailed Jaeger Pacific Gull Kelp Gull Silver Gull Crested Tern Lesser Crested Tern Caspian Tern Australian Tern Gull-billed Tern White-fronted Tern Black-naped Tern Roseate Tern Antarctic Tern Arctic Tern Common Tern Little Tern Fairy Tern Whiskered Tern White-winged Black Tern Grey Ternlet White Tern Sooty Tern Bridled Tern Aleutian Tern Common Noddy Black Noddy Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Little Terns are the smallest terns found in Australia. During the breeding season they have a black cap that extends well onto the nape of the neck, white front (throat, neck, chest, belly and vent) and grey wings. The black eyes are surrounded by a black eye stripe, while the frons (base of the bill) is a white triangle extending to above the eyes. The wings, which have black tips, extend beyond the length of the tail when folded. The tail is forked. The bill is yellow with a black tip, the short legs and feet are also yellow. In eclipse the cap becomes white, leaving only a mottled grey semi-circle at the nape of the neck. The bill turns black when not breeding. Juvenile Little Terns have mottled grey caps and wings, with a black bill, but yellow legs. Otherwise they resemble non-breeding adults. Twitcher's tip Next to Fairy Terns, Little Terns are the only terns in Australia with a yellow bill with a black tip. Where Fairy Terns do not occur (from about the Kimberley, WA, throughout the North-East coast, to the NSW/VIC border) this makes them unique.

Taxonomy, classification See Little Tern at Wikipedia . Click here for classification information The genus Sterna is now restricted to the large white terns. The Little Tern has been put into the genus Sternula, together with the Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) and Saunders's Tern (Sternula saundersi), which do not occur in Australia.

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Little Tern is available HERE . There are 3 extant races of Little Terns, which are a strongly migratory species that breeds in sandy terrain, both along coastlines and on sandbanks or islands of major rivers. The breeding range of nominate race "albifrons" extends from coastal Britain and central Europe, including the Baltic Sea, into the Mediterranean and northern Africa. During the breeding season they are found in large parts of inland eastern Europe, mostly in the area to the North of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. They breed, for example, along the lower Danube river. During their migration they can be found basically anywhere along the coastlines of Europe from the southern Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and, farther South, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. They spend the northern winter in southern Africa. Race "guineae" is found in western and central Africa. Race "sinensis" breeds in eastern Asia and winters (and also breeds) in parts of South-east Asia and in Australia. Only race "sinensis" migrates to Australia from the North. They are found around large parts of the Australian seaboard, but can be hard to find because quite rare. In the West they go as far South as about Exmouth, WA, while in the East they go all the way around the East coast and parts of the South coast, including Bass Strait and the East coast of Tasmania, to about the area of Adelaide, SA. They are only found around the seashore, not inland. Little Terns can be found in estuaries, above coastal waters, farther out at sea and on beaches, where they nest.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "sinensis" Three Little Terns, race "sinensis", were spotted by us flying parallel to the coastline at Old Bar, NSW, near the Manning River estuary, in September 2011. About 10 Little Terns, race "sinensis", were seen by us at Bundjalung NP, northern NSW, in February 2012. B. Hensen reports spotting juvenile Little Terns, race "sinensis", at East Lakes Golf Course, Sydney, NSW, in February 2013. M. Eaton reports finding a Little Tern, race "sinensis", at Noosa, QLD, in December 2017, and at Caloundra Headland, QLD, in January 2018, and at Flat Rock, Ballina, NSW, in February 2019 and again in January 2023. M. Eaton also found Little Terns near Old Bar, NSW, in December 2019. In December 2023, M. Eaton found Little Terns, race "sinensis", at both the Stockton Sandspit, Hunter Wetlands NP, and at The Entrance, NSW. At the latter location they were breeding at the time. A. Allnutt found Little Terns, race "sinensis", nesting at the Wallaga Lake entrance, near Bermagui, NSW, in December 2018. Race "albifrons" Little Terns, race "albifrons", have been found by us in Europe.

Photos

Race "sinensis"

ADULT

Sex unknown

BREEDING

Frontal view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Hunter Wetlands NP, NSW, December 2023]

Frontal view of two Little Terns in (near-)breeding plumage looking sideways
[Bundjalung NP, NSW, February 2012]

Frontal view of two Little Terns in (near-)breeding plumage, now preening
[Bundjalung NP, NSW, February 2012]

Near-frontal view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Hunter Wetlands NP, NSW, December 2023]

Near-lateral view of a Little Tern in (near-)breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Caloundra Headland, QLD, January 2018]

Lateral view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Close-up lateral view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Flat Rock, Ballina, NSW, January 2023]

Lateral view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Lateral view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage, left, with a second, in non-breeding plumage, stretching its wings - seen together with two Siberian Sand Plovers (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, March 2013]

Close-up lateral view of a Little Tern in (near-)breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Flat Rock, Ballina, NSW, February 2019]

Close-up lateral view of a Little Tern moulting out of breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Flat Rock, Ballina, NSW, January 2023]

Dorsal view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage, in direct comparison with an Aleutian Tern (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Dorsal view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage, in direct comparison with Aleutian Terns (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Near Old Bar, NSW, December 2019]

Near-frontal/ventral view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage in flight (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Near-lateral view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage in flight (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Lateral view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage in flight (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

NON-BREEDING

Lateral view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage, left, with a second, in non-breeding plumage, stretching its wings - seen together with two Siberian Sand Plovers (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, March 2013]

Close-up lateral view of a Little Tern in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Flat Rock, Ballina, NSW, January 2023]

Lateral view of Little Terns in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Darwin Harbour, Darwin, NT, March 2013]

Lateral view of two Little Terns in non-breeding plumage, in front of much larger Common Terns; note that the legs are not black, but dark greyish-pink (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Caloundra Headland, QLD, January 2018]

Little Tern, top, in comparison with a Common Tern, bottom (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Old Bar, NSW, February 2018]

Little Terns in comparison with Common Terns (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Old Bar, NSW, February 2018]

Little Tern, top right, in comparison with a Common Tern, bottom left (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Old Bar, NSW, February 2018]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-lateral view of an immature Little Tern; while mostly in non-breeding plumage, this bird still has its (dark) juvenile primary flight feathers (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Lateral view of a juvenile Little Tern (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Eastlakes Golf Course, Sydney, NSW, February 2013]

Two juvenile Little Terns (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Eastlakes Golf Course, Sydney, NSW, February 2013]

Lateral view of a near-fledging age Little Tern chick (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Near-dorsal view of a near-fledging age Little Tern chick (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Near-dorsal view of a near-fledging age Little Tern chick (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Little Tern in breeding plumage with its 3 chicks, one of which has just been fed (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Little Tern with a precocial chick hiding under sparse vegetation (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Little Tern with a precocial chick hiding under sparse vegetation (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Precocial Little Tern chick hiding under sparse vegetation (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Race "albifrons"

Photos of Little Terns, race "albifrons", have been taken by us in Europe.

Breeding information

Breeding season: Sep - Mar

Eggs: 1 - 3

Incubation period: 17 - 25 days

Fledging age: 17 - 19 days

The breeding season listed above applied to the south-eastern breeding areas of Little Terns. Farther north it can start earlier.

Nest building: Female & male

Incubation: Female & male

Dependent care: Female & male

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Scrape

Material: Sand

Height above ground: N/A

Near-lateral view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage settling down on its nest with 2 eggs (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Near-dorsal view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage on its nest (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Little Tern on its nest protected by fencing by the local Council (photo courtesy of A. Allnutt)
[Wallaga Lake entrance, near Bermagui, NSW, December 2018]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 29 x 22 mm

Colour: Creamy to olive-brown, with dark-brown speckles

Shape: Tapered oval

Little Tern nest with a full complement of 3 eggs; note the first chick just sticking out its head above where the eggs at centre and right appear to be touching (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Little Tern nest with 2 eggs; note the difference in colour with the eggs shown above (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Little Tern nest with 2 eggs; note the difference in colour with the eggs shown above (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Partially migratory

Elementary unit: Solitary/mob

Food, Diet

Lateral view of a Little Tern in breeding plumage with its catch - a fish, in this case for its brood (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[The Entrance, NSW, December 2023]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

In the audio recording below, the Little Tern calls are the high-pitched ones.

littern_aa_20181217.m4a

(SE NSW)

Contact calls(?); (with Silver Gull and Greater Crested Tern)

© AA

More Little Tern sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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