Bridled tern
Onychoprion anaethetus (Scopoli, 1786)
The bridled tern (Onychoprion anaethetus) is a species in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 119.4 g to 139 g and live up to 17.9 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the bridled tern
- Weight
- 119.4 g – 139 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 76 cm – 81 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 17.9 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 18 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- marinesrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 29 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the bridled tern?
Where does the bridled 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 bridled tern is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the bridled tern?
The bridled tern (Onychoprion anaethetus) is a seabird of the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus comes from onux meaning "claw" or "nail", and prion, meaning "saw". The specific anaethetus means "senseless, stupid", in reference to its tameness around humans.
From the Wikipedia article “Bridled tern” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bridled_tern&oldid=1375961875), 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 bridled tern endangered?
The bridled tern is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the bridled tern classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyLaridae
- genusOnychoprion
- SpeciesOnychoprion anaethetus (Scopoli, 1786)
Synonyms Onychoprion anaethetus anaethetus, Onychoprion anaethetus fuligulus, Onychoprion anethetus, Sterna anaethetus fuligula, Sterna fuligula
Other names and names in other languages (74)
- Brown winged ternEnglish
- Brown-winged ternEnglish
- Egg birdEnglish
- Brilseeswael (Brilsterretjie)Afrikaans
- خرشنة ملجمةArabic
- الخرشنة المُلجَمةArabic
- خرشنة بنية الجناحArabic
- Кафявокрила рибаркаBulgarian
- Skravig mouchig gwennBreton
- xatrac embridatCatalan
- rybák ScopoliůvCzech
- rybák uzdičkovýCzech
- Morwennol ffrwynogWelsh
- Môr-Wennol FfrwynogWelsh
- Môr-Wenoliaid FfrwynogWelsh
- BrilleterneDanish
- ZügelseeschwalbeGerman
- ވާލިDivehi
- ΣταχτογλάρονοGreek
- BridŝternoEsperanto
- brida ŝternoEsperanto
- Charrán embridadoSpanish
- Charrán EmbriadoSpanish
- Charrán monjaSpanish
- Gaviota MonjaSpanish
- Gaviota OscuraSpanish
- Gaviotín de bridasSpanish
- troopikatiirEstonian
- پرستو دریایی پشت دودیPersian
- ohjasnokitiiraFinnish
- ohjasnokkatiiraFinnish
- ennihvít ternaFaroese
- Sterne bridéeFrench
- Geabhróg bhánmhuinceachIrish
- Sternag speckleyraghScottish Gaelic
- שחפית רסןHebrew
- שחפית רסן *Hebrew
- smeđokrila čigraCroatian
- álarcos csérHungarian
- Dara-laut batuIndonesian
- TaumþernaIcelandic
- Sterna dalle rediniItalian
- マミジロアジサシJapanese
- 에위니아제비갈매기Korean
- rudasparnė žuvėdraLithuanian
- brūnspārnu zīriņšLatvian
- MavolambosyMalagasy
- തവിടൻ കടലാളMalayalam
- Burung Camar BatuMalay
- brilsternDutch
- tygleterneNorwegian Nynorsk
- tøyleterneNorwegian
- Meuchi BrelPapiamento
- Stèrnchi BrilPapiamento
- BedebedechaklPalauan
- rybitwa brunatnogrzbietaPolish
- برائڈلڈ ٹرنWestern Panjabi
- gaivina-de-dorso-castanhoPortuguese
- Garajau-de-dorso-castanhoPortuguese
- Бурокрылая крачкаRussian
- крачка карликоваяRussian
- NjuolasgožučearretNorthern Sami
- rybár tmavokrídlySlovak
- rjavoperuta čigraSlovenian
- Mrka čigraSerbian
- tygeltärnaSwedish
- gråryggad sottärnaSwedish
- นกนางนวลแกลบคิ้วขาวThai
- tala pitiTongan
- balıkçınTurkish
- Sürmeli SumruTurkish
- крячок бурокрилийUkrainian
- 白眉燕鷗Chinese
- 褐翅燕鸥Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the bridled tern
Other species in the same genus Onychoprion.
Sooty tern
Onychoprion fuscatus
Aleutian tern
Onychoprion aleuticus
Spectacled tern
Onychoprion lunatus
CompareBridled tern vs Sooty ternBridled tern vs Aleutian ternBridled tern vs Spectacled tern
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the bridled tern?
An adult bridled tern weighs 119.4 g – 139 g and has a wingspan of 76 cm – 81 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the bridled tern live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the bridled tern for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the bridled tern endangered?
The bridled tern is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the bridled tern live?
The bridled tern has a recorded lifespan of 17.9 years.
What kind of animal is the bridled tern?
The bridled tern (Onychoprion anaethetus) 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 - 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). - 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). Bridled tern (Onychoprion anaethetus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/bridled-tern
“Bridled tern (Onychoprion anaethetus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/bridled-tern.
@misc{bridled_tern_2026,
title = {Bridled tern (Onychoprion anaethetus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/bridled-tern},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}