Greater Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii) - BirdLife species factsheet

Greater Crested Tern Thalasseus bergii

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note
Thalasseus bergii (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) was previously placed in the genus Sterna.

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
Turbott, E.G. 1990. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand. Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Wellington.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2018	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	142,000,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	poor	estimated	2009
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	10.5 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population is estimated to number c.150,000-1,100,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2006), while national population estimates include: c.100-10,000 breeding pairs and c.50-1,000 individuals on migration in China; c.10,000-100,000 breeding pairs and c.1,000-10,000 individuals on migration in Taiwan and c.100-10,000 breeding pairs and c.50-1,000 individuals on migration in Japan (Brazil 2009).

Trend justification: The overall population trend is stable, although some populations have unknown trends (Delany and Scott 2006).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Australia	extant	native		yes
Bahrain	extant	native			yes	yes
Bangladesh	extant	native
British Indian Ocean Territory	extant	native
Brunei	extant	native
Cambodia	extant	native
China (mainland)	extant	native
Cook Islands	extant	native		yes
Djibouti	extant	native		yes
Egypt	extant	native
Eritrea	extant	native
Fiji	extant	native		yes
French Polynesia	extant	native
Guam (to USA)	extant	native	yes
India	extant	native
Indonesia	extant	native
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native	yes
Iraq	extant	native	yes
Israel	extant	native
Japan	extant	native
Jordan	extant	vagrant
Kenya	extant	native
Kiribati	extant	native
Kuwait	extant	native	yes
Madagascar	extant	native		yes
Malaysia	extant	native		yes
Maldives	extant	native		yes
Marshall Islands	extant	native		yes
Mauritius	extant	native
Mayotte (to France)	extant	native
Micronesia, Federated States of	extant	native		yes
Mozambique	extant	native
Myanmar	extant	native
Namibia	extant	native		yes
Nauru	extant	vagrant
New Caledonia (to France)	extant	native		yes
New Zealand	extant	vagrant
North Korea	extant	vagrant
Northern Mariana Islands (to USA)	extant	native			yes
Oman	extant	native	yes			yes
Pakistan	extant	native
Palau	extant	native		yes
Papua New Guinea	extant	native		yes
Philippines	extant	native		yes
Qatar	extant	native			yes	yes
Saudi Arabia	extant	native	yes
Seychelles	extant	native		yes
Singapore	extant	native
Solomon Islands	extant	native		yes
Somalia	extant	native
South Africa	extant	native		yes
Sri Lanka	extant	native
Sudan	extant	native		yes
Taiwan, China	extant	native		yes
Tanzania	extant	native		yes
Thailand	extant	native
Timor-Leste	extant	native	yes
Tonga	extant	native		yes
Tuvalu	extant	native		yes
United Arab Emirates	extant	native	yes
USA	extant	vagrant
Vanuatu	extant	native		yes
Vietnam	extant	native
Wallis and Futuna Islands (to France)	extant	native
Yemen	extant	native	yes			yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Bountiful Islands
Australia	Lowendal Islands
Australia	Michaelmas Cay
Australia	Pearce, Urquhart and Hervey Islands (Sir Edward Pellew Group)
Australia	Seagull Island (Tiwi Islands)
China (mainland)	Beiji Islands
China (mainland)	Jiushan Islands Nature Reserve
China (mainland)	Taizhou Islands
China (mainland)	Yushan Islands
Djibouti	Les Sept Frères
Iran, Islamic Republic of	Bahu Kalat (Gandu) Protected Area
Japan	Nishinoshima island
Japan	Nishinoshima island - Marine
Japan	Senkaku islands
Madagascar	Cape Anorontany Archipelago NPA
Madagascar	Nosy Manitse Future SAPM Marine and surrounding wetlands
Malaysia	Kinabatangan floodplain
Malaysia	Pulau Layang-Layang
Namibia	Cape Cross lagoon
Namibia	Lüderitz Bay islands
Namibia	Sandwich Harbour
Namibia	Sperrgebiet
Namibia	Walvis Bay
Oman	Al Batinah coast
Oman	Barr al Hikman
Oman	Duqm
Oman	Halaaniyaat Islands
Oman	Khawr ad Dahariz
Oman	Khawr Hassan
Oman	Masirah island
Oman	Ras al Hadd
Philippines	Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park
Saudi Arabia	Gulf coral islands
Seychelles	Cosmoledo
South Africa	Berg River Estuary
South Africa	Dassen Island
South Africa	Dyer Island Nature Reserve
South Africa	False Bay Nature Reserve
South Africa	Robben Island
South Africa	West Coast National Park and Saldanha Bay islands
Sudan	Suakin archipelago
Taiwan, China	Matsu (Mazu) Islands Tern Refuge
Taiwan, China	Northeastern Sea Islets
Taiwan, China	Southern Sea Islets
Tanzania	Latham Island
Yemen	Abdullah Gharib lagoons
Yemen	Aden

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Salt Exploitation Sites	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Salt Exploitation Sites	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Wastewater Treatment Areas	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Wastewater Treatment Areas	suitable	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands	major	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars, Spits, Etc	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Back Slope	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Foreslope (Outer Reef Slope)	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Inter-Reef Rubble Substrate	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Inter-Reef Soft Substrate	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Lagoon	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Outer Reef Channel	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Estuaries	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Estuaries	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Macroalgal/Kelp	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Macroalgal/Kelp	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Seagrass (Submerged)	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Seagrass (Submerged)	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy-Mud	major	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy-Mud	major	breeding
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Threats & impact

Threat (level 1)

Threat (level 2)

Impact and Stresses

Biological resource use

Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Minority (<50%)

Slow, Significant Declines

Low Impact: 5

Stresses
Species disturbance, Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality

Human intrusions & disturbance

Recreational activities

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Minority (<50%)

Negligible declines

Low Impact: 4

Stresses
Species disturbance, Reduced reproductive success

Utilisation

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Food - human	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Greater Crested Tern Thalasseus bergii. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/greater-crested-tern-thalasseus-bergii on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.