CreatureData

Aleutian tern

Onychoprion aleuticus (S. F. Baird, 1869)

VUVulnerablebirds

The aleutian tern (Onychoprion aleuticus) is a species in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 112 g to 120 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Aleutian tern (Onychoprion aleuticus)
Photo: Gregory "Slobirdr" Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the aleutian tern

Weight
112 g – 120 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
75 cm – 80 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
coastalsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
21 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
1.87src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the aleutian tern?

ALEUTIAN TERN · WINGSPAN 80 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 80 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the aleutian tern is about 47% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the aleutian tern live?

Not recorded

What is the aleutian tern?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Aleutian tern (Onychoprion aleuticus) is a migratory bird living in the subarctic region of the globe most of the year. It is frequently associated with the Arctic tern, which it closely resembles. While both species have a black cap, the Aleutian tern may be distinguished by its white forehead (although juvenile Arctic terns also have white foreheads). During breeding season, the Arctic terns have bright red bills, feet, and legs while those of the Aleutian terns are black.

Onychoprion aleuticus has not been thoroughly studied yet. If its winter migratory range was completely unknown until the late 1980s; it is now known that many Aleutian terns spend the winter near the Equator in the western Pacific. The Aleutian tern breeds in wide-ranging coastal colonies only in Alaska and eastern Siberia. Although Alaskan and Siberian populations are not well monitored, both are thought to be in significant decline.

From the Wikipedia article “Aleutian tern” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aleutian_tern&oldid=1381621780), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the aleutian tern endangered?

The aleutian tern is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.

How is the aleutian tern classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyLaridae
  6. genusOnychoprion
  7. SpeciesOnychoprion aleuticus (S. F. Baird, 1869)

Synonyms Sterna aleutica, Sterna camtschatica, Sterna camtschatica

Other names and names in other languages (46)
  • خرشنة ألوتيانيةArabic
  • Алеутска рибаркаBulgarian
  • Skravig aleoutBreton
  • xatrac de les illes AleutianesCatalan
  • rybák aleutskýCzech
  • Môr-wennol AleutiaWelsh
  • BeringterneDanish
  • BeringsterneDanish
  • AleutenseeschwalbeGerman
  • aleuta ŝternoEsperanto
  • Charrán aleutianoSpanish
  • viletiirEstonian
  • aleuttientiiraFinnish
  • Sterne des AléoutiennesFrench
  • Geabhróg AiliútachIrish
  • Sternag AleutiaghScottish Gaelic
  • שחפית אלאוטיתHebrew
  • Bering-tengeri csérHungarian
  • Dara-laut aleutianIndonesian
  • Dara-Laut AlaskaIndonesian
  • HrímþernaIcelandic
  • Sterna aleutinaItalian
  • コシジロアジサシJapanese
  • 알류샨제비갈매기Korean
  • aleutinė žuvėdraLithuanian
  • Aleutu zīriņšLatvian
  • Burung Camar AleutianMalay
  • AleoetensternDutch
  • rybitwa aleuckaPolish
  • gaivina-das-aleutasPortuguese
  • gaivina-das-aleútesPortuguese
  • Garajau-das-aleutasPortuguese
  • алеутская крачкаRussian
  • Камчатская крачкаRussian
  • BeringčearretNorthern Sami
  • rybár aleutskýSlovak
  • aleutska čigraSlovenian
  • beringtärnaSwedish
  • นกนางนวลแกลบอะลูเชียนThai
  • alüt sumrusuTurkish
  • Aleüt SumrusuTurkish
  • Алеутський крячокUkrainian
  • Крячок алеутськийUkrainian
  • крячок камчатськийUkrainian
  • 白腰燕鷗Chinese
  • 白腰燕鸥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the aleutian tern

Other species in the same genus Onychoprion.

LC, Least Concern
Sooty tern (Onychoprion fuscatus)

Sooty tern

Onychoprion fuscatus

Laridae

CompareAleutian tern vs Sooty ternAleutian tern vs Bridled ternAleutian tern vs Spectacled tern

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the aleutian tern?

An adult aleutian tern weighs 112 g – 120 g and has a wingspan of 75 cm – 80 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the aleutian tern endangered?

The aleutian tern is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

What kind of animal is the aleutian tern?

The aleutian tern (Onychoprion aleuticus) belongs to the family Laridae in the order Charadriiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Aleutian tern (Onychoprion aleuticus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/aleutian-tern

MLA

“Aleutian tern (Onychoprion aleuticus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/aleutian-tern.

BibTeX
@misc{aleutian_tern_2026,
  title = {Aleutian tern (Onychoprion aleuticus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/aleutian-tern},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}