Least Tern

About the Least Tern

The least tern (Sternula antillarum) is a species of tern that breeds in North America and locally in northern South America. It is closely related to, and was formerly often considered conspecific with, the little tern of the Old World. Other close relatives include the yellow-billed tern and Peruvian tern, both from South America. It is a small tern, 22–24 cm (8.7–9.4 in) long, with a wingspan of 50 cm (20 in), and weighing 39–52 g (1.4–1.8 oz). The upper parts are a fairly uniform pale gray, and the underparts white. The head is white, with a black cap and line through the eye to the base of the bill, and a small white forehead patch above the bill; in winter, the white forehead is more extensive, with a smaller and less sharply defined black cap.

Source: Wikipedia

Classification

Scientific name

Sternula antillarum

Family

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Order

Charadriiformes

Similar species

Other members of the gulls, terns, and skimmers family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.

• Aleutian Tern Onychoprion aleuticus
• American Herring Gull Larus smithsonianus
• Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea
• Belcher's Gull Larus belcheri
• Black Noddy Anous minutus
• Black Skimmer Rynchops niger
• Black Tern Chlidonias niger
• Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus
• Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla
• Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris
• Blue-billed White-Tern Gygis candida
• Blue-gray Noddy Anous ceruleus