Black-fronted tern
Chlidonias albostriatus (G. R. Gray, 1845)
Status not recordedbirds
The black-fronted tern (Chlidonias albostriatus) is a species in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 93.9 g to 94.7 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia.
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Quick facts about the black-fronted tern
- Weight
- 94.7 g
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Aquatic predator
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- coastal
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Lifestyle
- Aerial
- Migration
- Partial
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Where does the black-fronted tern live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The black-fronted tern is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Is the black-fronted tern endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the black-fronted tern classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyLaridae
- genusChlidonias
- SpeciesChlidonias albostriatus (G. R. Gray, 1845)
Synonyms Chlidonias albistriata, Hydrochelidon albostriata, Onychoprion albostriatus, Sterna albistriata, Sterna albostriata
Other names and names in other languages (45)
- خرشنة ذات الجبهة السوداءArabic
- Черночела рибаркаBulgarian
- Stêrwennel tal duBreton
- xatrac de Nova ZelandaCatalan
- rybák novozélandskýCzech
- Môr-wennol frondduWelsh
- MaoriterneDanish
- GraubauchseeschwalbeGerman
- nigrafrunta ŝternoEsperanto
- Fumarel maoríSpanish
- virdtiir (virdviires)Estonian
- پرستوی دریایی جلوسیاهPersian
- uudenseelannintiiraFinnish
- sterne des galetsFrench
- novozelandska čigraCroatian
- feketefejű szerkőHungarian
- Sterna fronteneraItalian
- クロビタイアジサシJapanese
- juodakaktė žuvėdraLithuanian
- TaraMāori
- ZwartkopsternDutch
- rybitwa czarnoczelnaPolish
- gaivina-maoriPortuguese
- Чернолобая крачкаRussian
- čorík čiernočelýSlovak
- Crnočela čigraSerbian
- maoritärnaSwedish
- Maori Bıyıklı SumrusuTurkish
- крячок новозеландськийUkrainian
- 黑額燕鷗Chinese
- Fumarell de Nova ZelandaCatalan
- Graubauch-SeeschwalbeGerman
- Schwarzstirn-SeeschwalbeGerman
- SchwarzstirnseeschwalbeGerman
- Charrán fumarelSpanish
- Guifette des galetsFrench
- Mignattino fronteneraItalian
- TarapiroeMāori
- TarapiroheMāori
- Nieuw-Zeelandse SternDutch
- Nieuwzeelandse SternDutch
- gaivina-de-testa-pretaPortuguese
- trinta-réis-de-fronte-pretaPortuguese
- nyzeeländsk flodtärnaSwedish
- 黑额燕鸥Chinese
Relatives of the black-fronted tern
Other species in the same genus Chlidonias.

White-winged tern
Chlidonias leucopterus

Whiskered tern
Chlidonias hybrida

Black tern
Chlidonias niger
CompareBlack-fronted tern vs White-winged ternBlack-fronted tern vs Whiskered ternBlack-fronted tern vs Black tern
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the black-fronted tern?
An adult black-fronted tern weighs 94.7 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the black-fronted tern live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the black-fronted tern for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
What kind of animal is the black-fronted tern?
The black-fronted tern (Chlidonias albostriatus) 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.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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.
CreatureData. (2026). Black-fronted tern (Chlidonias albostriatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-fronted-tern
“Black-fronted tern (Chlidonias albostriatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-fronted-tern.
@misc{black_fronted_tern_2026,
title = {Black-fronted tern (Chlidonias albostriatus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-fronted-tern},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}