White-cheeked Tern (Sterna repressa) - BirdLife species factsheet

White-cheeked Tern Sterna repressa

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

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.
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
2019	Least Concern
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)	8,740,000 km²	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	10,600,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	400000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2006
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	11 years	-	-	-

Population justification: Delany and Scott (2006) estimate the global population to number 600,000 individuals. This roughly equates to 400,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be in decline owing to unsustainable levels of egg-harvesting at its nesting colonies (del Hoyo et al. 1996).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bahrain	extant	native		yes	yes
Djibouti	extant	native
Egypt	extant	native		yes
Eritrea	extant	native
India	extant	native
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native		yes
Iraq	extant	native		yes
Israel	extant	native
Jordan	extant	native			yes
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Kuwait	extant	native		yes
Maldives	extant	native
Oman	extant	native		yes	yes
Pakistan	extant	native
Qatar	extant	native		yes
Saudi Arabia	extant	native		yes	yes
Seychelles	extant	vagrant
Somalia	extant	native
South Africa	extant	vagrant
Sri Lanka	extant	vagrant
Sudan	extant	native		yes
Tanzania	extant	native
United Arab Emirates	extant	native		yes	yes
Yemen	extant	native	yes		yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Bahrain	Hawar Islands
Bahrain	South-west Coast
Egypt	Hurghada archipelago
Iran, Islamic Republic of	Bushire Bay
Iran, Islamic Republic of	Faror islands
Iran, Islamic Republic of	Kharku Wildlife Refuge
Iran, Islamic Republic of	Nakhilu, Morghu and Ummal Karam islands
Iran, Islamic Republic of	Sheedvar island
Kuwait	Kubbar island
Oman	Bandar Jussah
Oman	Daymaniyat Islands
Oman	Masirah island
Oman	Ra's Abu Da'ud
Qatar	Al-Aliyah island
Qatar	Shara'awh island
Saudi Arabia	Abu Ali
Saudi Arabia	Farasan Islands
Saudi Arabia	Gulf coral islands
Saudi Arabia	Gulf of Salwah
Saudi Arabia	Tarut Bay
United Arab Emirates	Al Ushsh Island
United Arab Emirates	Dayyinah Island (Diynah)
United Arab Emirates	Muhaimat Island
United Arab Emirates	Sir Bani Yas Islands
United Arab Emirates	Yasat Island
Yemen	Al-Fazzah
Yemen	Al-Mukha - Al-Khawkhah
Yemen	Bahr Ibn Abbas - Ra's Isa
Yemen	Islands north of Al-Hudaydah
Yemen	Jaza'ir al-Hanish
Yemen	Midi - Al-Luhayyah
Yemen	Nukhaylah - Ghulayfiqah

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes	suitable	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Freshwater Lakes	suitable	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Freshwater Lakes	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands	major	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Rocky Shoreline	major	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars, Spits, Etc	major	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Shingle and/or Pebble Shoreline and/or Beaches	major	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Back Slope	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Back Slope	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Foreslope (Outer Reef Slope)	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Foreslope (Outer Reef Slope)	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Inter-Reef Rubble Substrate	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Inter-Reef Rubble Substrate	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Inter-Reef Soft Substrate	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Inter-Reef Soft Substrate	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Lagoon	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Lagoon	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Outer Reef Channel	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Coral Reef - Outer Reef Channel	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Estuaries	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Estuaries	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Macroalgal/Kelp	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Macroalgal/Kelp	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Pelagic	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Seagrass (Submerged)	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Seagrass (Submerged)	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy-Mud	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Subtidal Sandy-Mud	suitable	non-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
Reduced reproductive success

Pollution

Agricultural & forestry effluents - Nutrient loads

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Minority (<50%)

Negligible declines

Low Impact: 4

Stresses
Reduced reproductive success

Utilisation

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: White-cheeked Tern Sterna repressa. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/white-cheeked-tern-sterna-repressa 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.