Lesser Crested Tern (Thalasseus bengalensis)

Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note
Thalasseus bengalensis (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.

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)	41,500,000 km²	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	96,100,000 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	11 years	-	-	-

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
Algeria	extant	native
Australia	extant	native		yes
Austria	extant	vagrant
Bahrain	extant	native	yes			yes
Bangladesh	extant	native
British Indian Ocean Territory	extant	native
Brunei	extant	native
Cambodia	extant	vagrant
China (mainland)	extant	native
Comoros	extant	native
Djibouti	extant	native		yes
Egypt	extant	native		yes
Eritrea	extant	native		yes
France	extant	vagrant
French Southern Territories	extant	uncertain
Gambia	extant	native
Ghana	extant	vagrant
Gibraltar (to UK)	extant	vagrant
Greece	extant	vagrant
Guinea	extant	native
Guinea-Bissau	extant	native
India	extant	native
Indonesia	extant	native
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native	yes
Iraq	extant	native		yes
Israel	extant	native			yes
Italy	extant	native		yes
Jordan	extant	vagrant
Kenya	extant	native
Kuwait	extant	native	yes
Lebanon	extinct	native		yes
Libya	extant	native		yes
Madagascar	extant	native		yes
Malaysia	extant	native			yes
Maldives	extant	native		yes
Mauritania	extant	native
Mauritius	extant	native
Mayotte (to France)	extant	native
Morocco	extant	native
Mozambique	extant	native
Myanmar	extant	native
Netherlands	extant	vagrant
Oman	extant	native			yes	yes
Pakistan	extant	native
Palestine	extant	vagrant				yes
Papua New Guinea	extant	native		yes
Philippines	extant	uncertain
Qatar	extant	native			yes	yes
Réunion (to France)	extant	uncertain
Saudi Arabia	extant	native	yes
Senegal	extant	vagrant
Seychelles	extant	native
Singapore	extant	native
Solomon Islands	extant	uncertain
Somalia	extant	native
South Africa	extant	native
Spain	extant	native		yes
Sri Lanka	extant	native
Sudan	extant	native		yes
Switzerland	extant	vagrant
Tanzania	extant	native
Thailand	extant	native
Timor-Leste	extant	native			yes
Tunisia	extant	native
Türkiye	extant	vagrant
Uganda	extant	vagrant
United Arab Emirates	extant	native	yes
United Kingdom	extant	vagrant
Vietnam	extant	uncertain
Western Sahara	extant	uncertain
Yemen	extant	native	yes			yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Australia	Brook Islands
Australia	Cape York to Cape Grenville Islands
Australia	Islands North of Port Stewart
Australia	Michaelmas Cay
Australia	South Barnard Islands
Australia	Stapleton Island
Australia	Sudbury Reef
Djibouti	Les Sept Frères
Egypt	Hurghada archipelago
Eritrea	Dehalak Archipelago and offshore islands
Guinea-Bissau	Arquipélago dos Bijagós
Guinea-Bissau	Cantanhez forests
India	Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park
Iran, Islamic Republic of	Kharku Wildlife Refuge
Iran, Islamic Republic of	Nakhilu, Morghu and Ummal Karam islands
Kenya	Sabaki River Mouth
Kenya	Tana River Delta
Libya	Bumbah Gulf
Libya	Geziret Garah
Madagascar	Ambavanankarana wetland
Madagascar	Baly Bay National Park
Madagascar	Cape Anorontany Archipelago NPA
Madagascar	Mahavavy - Kinkony wetlands NPA
Madagascar	Nosy Manitse Future SAPM Marine and surrounding wetlands
Madagascar	Sahamalaza - Radama Islands National Marine Park
Madagascar	Tambohorano Wetland NPA
Madagascar	Wetlands of the Tsiribihina delta and upper Tsiribihina river
Malaysia	North-central Selangor coast
Morocco	Sebkha Bou Areg
Mozambique	Greater Bazaruto
Oman	Barr al Hikman
Saudi Arabia	Abu Ali
Saudi Arabia	Gulf coral islands
Saudi Arabia	Gulf of Salwah
Sudan	Mukawwar island and Dunganab bay
Sudan	Suakin archipelago
Tanzania	Dar es Salaam coast
Tanzania	Rufiji Delta
Thailand	Na Muang Krabi
United Arab Emirates	Dayyinah Island (Diynah)
United Arab Emirates	Muhaimat Island
United Arab Emirates	Qarnain Island
United Arab Emirates	Yasat Island
Yemen	Islands north of Al-Hudaydah

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
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	breeding
Marine Neritic	Macroalgal/Kelp	major	non-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

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/lesser-crested-tern-thalasseus-bengalensis 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.