Back to Field Guide
Royal Tern
Thalasseus maximus
Migration Flyway
Showing primary migration corridor(s) for this species
Last Spotted Near You
About the Royal Tern
The royal tern (Thalasseus maximus) is a tern in the family Laridae. The species is endemic to the Americas, though vagrants have been identified in Europe.
Source: Wikipedia
Classification
- Scientific name
- Thalasseus maximus
- 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
Know when the Royal Tern turns up near you
How rare bird alerts work →Gear for spotting Royal Tern
Optics
Best Binoculars for Beginners
You don't need to spend a fortune. These four pairs will get you birding confidently on day one.
8 min readRead guide
Cameras
Cameras for Bird Photography
From phone adapters to dedicated rigs, here's what actually works for capturing birds in the field.
12 min readRead guide