Least Tern

When to see the Least Tern

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 5 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is May, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Least Tern

The map shades 45 countries with regular records, and 8 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Recorded as a rare visitor in Canada, United Kingdom, Peru, Japan, Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay, St. Pierre & Miquelon.

About the Least Tern

The least tern is a species of tern that breeds in North America and locally in northern South America. It is closely related to, and was formerly often considered conspecific with, the little tern of the Old World. Other close relatives include the yellow-billed tern and Peruvian tern, both from South America.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Little TernSternula albifronsThis is a small tern, 21–25 cm long with a 41–47 cm wingspan. Yellow-billed TernSternula superciliarisIt measures approximately 23–25 centimeters in body length and weighs 40–57 grams. Fairy TernSternula nereisThe fairy tern is a small tern with a white body and light bluish-grey wings.