Little Tern

Sternula albifrons (Pallas, 1764)

Laridae — Gulls, Terns, Skimmers

Little Tern, Sternula albifrons, breeds across Africa, the Palearctic, the Oriental Region and Australasia, with colonies on coasts and inland waterways. It is a small seabird in the gull and tern family, and its breeding range stretches from western Europe and Russia through central Asia to Japan, eastern China, Taiwan and Vietnam, as well as north and west Africa, the Persian Gulf, Iraq, Pakistan, northern India, Sri Lanka, the Gulf of Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, islands near the Greater Sundas, parts of Australia and Tasmania, and Saipan. It was first described by Pallas in 1764.

Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae — Gulls, Terns, Skimmers
Breeding range: Africa, Palearctic, Oriental Region, Australasia: w Europe, sw Russia, c Asia, Mongolia to se Russia, Japan, e China, Taiwan and Vietnam; n, w Africa; Persian Gulf and Iraq to Indus Valley (Pakistan) and Gangetic Plain (nc India); Sri Lanka; Gulf of Thailand, Malay Pen., Singapore, and islands off Greater Sundas; off New Britain (se Bismarck Arch.), Bougainville (n Solomon Is.); coastal nw, n, e, se Australia and Tasmania; and Saipan (s Northern Mariana Is., nw Micronesia)