CreatureData

Black-bellied tern

Sterna acuticauda J. E. Gray, 1831

ENEndangeredbirds

The black-bellied tern (Sterna acuticauda) is a species in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh about 153 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

Black-bellied tern (Sterna acuticauda)
Photo: Godbolemandar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the black-bellied tern

Weight
153 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
riverinesrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the black-bellied tern live?

Not recorded

What is the black-bellied tern?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The black-bellied tern (Sterna acuticauda) is a tern found near large rivers in the Indian subcontinent, its range extending from Pakistan, Nepal and India to Myanmar. It has become very scarce in the eastern part of its range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being endangered.

They have a black belly in the summer and a deep forked tail. They can sometimes resemble whiskered terns (Chlidonias hybrida), but the deeper fork of the tail and the black on the lower belly distinguish them from the shallow fork and black closer to the breast on the whiskered tern. Considering that sequence analysis supports moving the similar black-fronted tern ("Sterna" albostriata) into Chlidonias, this species might also be better placed in that genus, but no research has yet been conducted.

From the Wikipedia article “Black-bellied tern” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black-bellied_tern&oldid=1376995733), 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 black-bellied tern endangered?

The black-bellied tern is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very 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 Endangered species.

How is the black-bellied tern classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyLaridae
  6. genusSterna
  7. SpeciesSterna acuticauda J. E. Gray, 1831

Synonyms Sterna acuticauda acuticauda, Sterna acuticauda melanogaster, Sterna melanogaster, Sternula jerdoni

Other names and names in other languages (43)
  • خرشنة سوداء البطنArabic
  • خرشنة سوداءة البطنArabic
  • Qaraqarın susüpürənAzerbaijani
  • Чернокорема рибаркаBulgarian
  • xatrac ventrenegreCatalan
  • rybák ostroocasýCzech
  • rybák černobřichýCzech
  • Môr-wennol dordduWelsh
  • Sortbuget TerneDanish
  • SchwarzbauchseeschwalbeGerman
  • Schwarzbauch-SeeschwalbeGerman
  • nigraventra ŝternoEsperanto
  • Charrán ventrinegroSpanish
  • mustkõht-tiirEstonian
  • پرستوی دریایی شکمسیاهPersian
  • mustavatsatiiraFinnish
  • Sterne à ventre noirFrench
  • feketehasú csérHungarian
  • Sterna pancianeraItalian
  • Sterna ventreneroItalian
  • インドアジサシJapanese
  • juodapilvė žuvėdraLithuanian
  • കരിവയറൻ ആളMalayalam
  • उत्क्रोशी फ्यालफ्यालेNepali
  • zwartbuiksternDutch
  • svartbukterneNorwegian
  • rybitwa czarnobrzuchaPolish
  • کالے ٹڈ آلا ٹرنWestern Panjabi
  • gaivina-de-barriga-pretaPortuguese
  • andorinha-do-mar-de-barriga-pretaPortuguese
  • trinta-réis-de-barriga-pretaPortuguese
  • Чернобрюхая крачкаRussian
  • rybár čiernobruchýSlovak
  • črnotrebušasta čigraSlovenian
  • Crnotrba čigraSerbian
  • svartbukig tärnaSwedish
  • கருப்பு வயிற்று ஆலாTamil
  • นกนางนวลแกลบท้องดำThai
  • Kara Karınlı SumruTurkish
  • крячок чорночеревийUkrainian
  • Nhàn bụng đenVietnamese
  • 黑腹燕鷗Chinese
  • 黑腹燕鸥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the black-bellied tern

Other species in the same genus Sterna.

CompareBlack-bellied tern vs Common ternBlack-bellied tern vs Arctic ternBlack-bellied tern vs Roseate ternBlack-bellied tern vs River tern

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the black-bellied tern?

An adult black-bellied tern weighs 153 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the black-bellied tern endangered?

The black-bellied tern is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

What kind of animal is the black-bellied tern?

The black-bellied tern (Sterna acuticauda) 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.

Embed a card for this animal on your own site

Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.

Preview the card

APA

CreatureData. (2026). Black-bellied tern (Sterna acuticauda). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-bellied-tern

MLA

“Black-bellied tern (Sterna acuticauda).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-bellied-tern.

BibTeX
@misc{black_bellied_tern_2026,
  title = {Black-bellied tern (Sterna acuticauda)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-bellied-tern},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}