Birds › Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
Least Tern
Sternula antillarum
28 photos
Study shows up to four per card, from different observers, so you learn the species rather than one picture. Heart the good ones and swap any you do not like.
Photos you add are credited to you, and you keep the copyright.
Easily confused with
Forster's TernSterna forsteri
Common TernSterna hirundo
Royal TernThalasseus maximus
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
Little TernSternula albifrons
Elegant TernThalasseus elegans
Black TernChlidonias niger
Roseate TernSterna dougallii
Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.
Where it is recorded
| United States | 798,947 |
|---|---|
| Texas | 84,536 |
| New York | 66,752 |
| California | 47,878 |
| Virginia | 37,837 |
| Maryland | 32,716 |
| North Carolina | 32,189 |
| Connecticut | 26,736 |
| New Hampshire | 23,302 |
| Alabama | 18,109 |
Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.
Traits
Group and habits
- Ground nestingListed by a harvested source as nesting on the ground.BIRDBASE avian traits database
- Scrape nestingListed by a harvested source as nesting in scrapes.BIRDBASE avian traits database
- Fish eaterListed by a harvested source as primarily eating fish.BIRDBASE avian traits database
Classification
| Kingdom | Animals · Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Chordates · Chordata |
| Class | Birds · Aves |
| Order | Shorebirds and Allies · Charadriiformes |
| Family | Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers · Laridae |
| Genus | Small Terns · Sternula |
Study it in a deck
- Birds of British Columbia, Canada
- Birds of Ontario
- Birds of Pennsylvania (Alkas)
- Birds of United States
- Birds of Utah
Or build your own from the species near you.
Sources
- Names, taxonomy and observation counts: www.inaturalist.org
- Photos and recordings: the creator and source are on each one.
- Traits: BIRDBASE avian traits database (CC BY 4.0)
- How much to rely on each source
Remember the name next time.
Practise Least Tern with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.