Chinese crested tern

Weight

284 gsrc for Weight

Length

Not recorded

Lifespan

Not recorded

Diet

Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet

Main food

Not recorded

Habitat

coastalsrc for Habitat

Young per litter or clutch

Not recorded

Lifestyle

Aerialsrc for Lifestyle

Migration

Migratorysrc for Migration

Conservation status

Critically Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status

Countries on record

Not recorded

Not recorded

The chinese crested tern is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces an extremely 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 Critically Endangered species. What the categories mean.

1. kingdomAnimalia
2. phylumChordata
3. classAves
4. orderCharadriiformes
5. familyLaridae
6. genusThalasseus
7. SpeciesThalasseus bernsteini (Schlegel, 1863)

Synonyms Sterna bernsteini, Sterna zimmermanni, Thalasseus zimmermanni

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

LC, Least Concern

Sandwich tern

Thalasseus sandvicensis

Laridae

LC, Least Concern

Greater crested tern

Thalasseus bergii

Laridae

LC, Least Concern

Lesser crested tern

Thalasseus bengalensis

Laridae

LC, Least Concern

Royal tern

Thalasseus maximus

Laridae

NT, Near Threatened

Elegant tern

Thalasseus elegans

Laridae

C

Cabot's tern

Thalasseus acuflavidus

LaridaeNo free photo yet

CompareChinese crested tern vs Sandwich ternChinese crested tern vs Greater crested ternChinese crested tern vs Lesser crested ternChinese crested tern vs Royal tern

• 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).

@misc{chinese_crested_tern_2026,
  title = {Chinese crested tern (Thalasseus bernsteini)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/chinese-crested-tern},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}