Sterna is a genus of terns in the bird family Laridae. The genus used to encompass most "white" terns indiscriminately, but mtDNA sequence comparisons have determined that this arrangement was paraphyletic. It is now restricted to the typical medium-sized white terns with deeply forked tails, which occur near-globally, mostly in coastal regions but several also using freshwater habitats inland.Bridge, E. S.; Jones, A. W. & Baker, A. J. (2005). A phylogenetic framework for the terns (Sternini) inferred from mtDNA sequences: implications for taxonomy and plumage evolution . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35: 459–469.
Taxonomy The genus Sterna was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The type species is the common tern (Sterna hirundo). Sterna is derived from Old English "stearn" which appears in the poem The Seafarer; a similar word was used to refer to terns by the Frisians.
Species The genus contains 13 species.
Image Common name Scientific name Distribution River tern Sterna aurantia Inland rivers from Pakistan east through the Indian Subcontinent to Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia. Forster's tern Sterna forsteri North America. Snowy-crowned tern or Trudeau's tern Sterna trudeauiArgentina, south-east Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Arctic tern Sterna paradisaeaArctic and Subarctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America (as far south as Brittany and Massachusetts). South American tern Sterna hirundinaceaSouthern South America, including the Falkland Islands, ranging north to Peru (Pacific coast) and Brazil (Atlantic coast). Antarctic tern Sterna vittataUruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Falkland Islands, the Heard Island, the McDonald Islands, Australia, and New Zealand. Kerguelen tern Sterna virgataKerguelen Islands, the Prince Edward Islands (i.e. Prince Edward and Marion) and Crozet Islands. Common tern Sterna hirundoEastern North America, Europe, North Africa, Asia east to Siberia and Kazakhstan. White-cheeked tern Sterna repressa Coasts on the Red Sea, around the Horn of Africa to Kenya, in the Persian Gulf and along the Iranian coast to Pakistan and western India. Black-naped tern Sterna sumatrana Tropical and subtropical areas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Roseate tern Sterna dougalliiAtlantic coasts of Europe and North America, and winters south to the Caribbean and west Africa; and subspecies from east Africa across the Indian Ocean to Japan, and in Australia and New Caledonia. White-fronted tern Sterna striataNew Zealand and Australia. Black-bellied tern Sterna acuticauda Pakistan, Nepal, India and Bangladesh, with a separate range in Myanmar.
The following genera were formerly often included in Sterna: Onychoprion (larger terns with white foreheads and dark backs) Sternula (small terns mostly with white foreheads) Thalasseus (large terns with crests)
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