Fairy Tern - BirdForum Opus

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Photo by Paul Tavares
Photographed: Cervantes, Western Australia, January 2006

Sternula nereis

Sterna nereis

Distribution

Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. Distribution in Australia is overlapping Little Tern.

Taxonomy

Fairy Tern is closely related to Little Tern, Least Tern, Yellow-billed Tern, Peruvian Tern, and Saunders's Tern, and like them was formerly placed in the genus Sterna.

Subspecies

Photo by deedee53
Eden, New South Wales, Australia April 2008

There are 4 subspecies^[1]:

• S. n. horni:

• Western Australia

• S. n. nereis:

• South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania

• S. n. exsul:

• New Caledonia

• S. n. davisae:

• North North Island (New Zealand)

Habitat

Coastal and offshore waters, beaches and islands, salt lakes and estuaries.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes fish. They will rob other species of their catch.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Fairy Tern. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Fairy_Tern

External Links

Search for photos of Fairy Tern in the gallery