White Tern
The White Tern is a small species of seabird that is found across tropical ocean habitats. White Terns have a nearly all-white plumage; only some feathers around the eyes are black.
The White Tern has an unusual breeding habit; it doesn't construct a nest. Instead, a single egg is laid on a bare tree branch, in a small depression or at a fork. Once hatched, the chick has to hang on to the branch as it grows.
The population trend for the White Tern is stable and the conservation status is Least Concern as of November 2013.
Details & Statistics
- Least Concern (LC)
- Near Threatened (NT)
- Vulnerable (VU)
- Endangered (EN)
- Critically Endangered (CR)
- Extinct in the Wild (EW)
- Extinct (EX)
Conservation
The White Tern is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
International Names
