• Sterna albifrons Pallas, P.S. 1764. Adumbratiunculae In: Vroeg, A. Catalogue raisonne' d'une collection supérieurement belle d'oiseaux, tant exotiques qu'Euroe'ens, de quadrupedes et d'insectes...; collection qu'on offre sux amateurs entiére & à un prix raisonnable, jusqu'au 22 septembre de cette année. La Haye xvi + 49, 7 pp. [6].

Generic Combinations

• Sternula albifrons (Pallas, 1764). —
  Mathews, G.M. 1912. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 2. [373]

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

IMCRA

Timor Transition (1), Northern Shelf Province (25), Northwest Shelf Transition (26), Northwest Shelf Province (27), Central Western Shelf Transition (28), Central Western Shelf Province (29), Southwest Shelf Transition (30), Southwest Shelf Province (31), Great Australian Bight Shelf Transition (32), Spencer Gulf Shelf Province (33), Western Bass Strait Shelf Transition (34), Bass Strait Shelf Province (35), Tasmanian Shelf Province (36), Southeast Shelf Transition (37), Central Eastern Shelf Province (38), Central Eastern Shelf Transition (39), Northeast Shelf Province (40), Northeast Shelf Transition (41)

Common Name References

Christidis, L. & Boles, W.E. 1994. The Taxonomy and Species of Birds of Australia and its Territories. Monograph 2. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union iv 112 pp. (Little Tern)

History of changes

• Sternula placens Gould, J. 1871. Description of two new species pertaining to the Avifauna of Australia. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 4 8: 192-193 [Date published 1 Sep 1871] [192].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) BMNH 1851.5.1.3717 ♂, Port Darwin, Australia.
• Sterna sinensis tormenti Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [210].

  Type data:

   Holotype AMNH 746993 ♂, Point Torment, North-West Australia, WA.

  Secondary source:

   Greenway, J.C. 1978. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Pt 2. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 161: 1-306 [35].

Generic Combinations

• Sternula albifrons placens (Gould, 1871). —
  Mathews, G.M. 1912. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 2. [375]
• Sterna albifrons placens (Gould, 1871). —
  Peters, J.L. 1934. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 2 xvii 401 pp. [341]

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria

Extra Distribution Information

East coast of Australia, including TAS, and west along the northern coast

IMCRA

Northern Shelf Province (25), Northwest Shelf Transition (26), Bass Strait Shelf Province (35), Tasmanian Shelf Province (36), Southeast Shelf Transition (37), Central Eastern Shelf Province (38), Central Eastern Shelf Transition (39), Northeast Shelf Province (40), Northeast Shelf Transition (41)

History of changes

• Sterna sinensis Gmelin, J.F. 1789. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Linné, editio decima tertia, aucta, reformata. Regnum Animalium. Leipzig (Lipsiae) : G.E. Beer Vol. 1(2) 501-1032 pp. [publication dated 1788] [608].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, whereabouts unknown, Sina [China].
• Sternula inconspicua Masters, 1876.

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) AM(MMUS) O.45780 ♂ (Macleay Museum no. BT14), Muddy Bay, Cape York, Queensland, Australia; AM(MMUS) O.45781 ♀, Muddy Bay, Cape York, Queensland, Australia; AM(MMUS) O.45782 ♀, Muddy Bay, Cape York, Queensland, Australia; AM(MMUS) O.45783 ♀, Muddy Bay, Cape York, Queensland, Australia.

  Secondary source:

   Longmore, N.W. 1991. Type specimens of birds in the Australian Museum. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum n 4: 1-42 [5].

Generic Combinations

• Sternula albifrons sinensis (Gmelin, 1789). —
  Peters, J.L. 1934. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 2 xvii 401 pp. [340]

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Coastal Australia from Shark Bay, WA through north and eastern Australia to Spencer Gulf, SA, including TAS

IMCRA

Timor Transition (1), Northern Shelf Province (25), Northwest Shelf Transition (26), Northwest Shelf Province (27), Central Western Shelf Transition (28), Central Western Shelf Province (29), Spencer Gulf Shelf Province (33), Western Bass Strait Shelf Transition (34), Bass Strait Shelf Province (35), Tasmanian Shelf Province (36), Southeast Shelf Transition (37), Central Eastern Shelf Province (38), Central Eastern Shelf Transition (39), Northeast Shelf Province (40), Northeast Shelf Transition (41)

Ecological Descriptors

Coastal salt marsh, estuary, lake, offshore waters, open beach, salt marsh.

History of changes