# Common tern (*Sterna hirundo*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-tern  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The common tern (Sterna hirundo) is a bird in the family Laridae and the order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory bird with an adult body mass of 129.2 g and a wingspan of 88 cm. The common tern is a carnivore and aquatic predator with an aerial lifestyle, living in marine habitat across a range of 30,250,000 km². It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 124 g – 129.2 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 88 cm |
| Lifespan | 33 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | marine |
| Egg incubation | 22.8 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2.5 |
| Age at maturity | 2.49 years – 3 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Lifestyle | Aerial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Charadriiformes
- family: Laridae
- genus: Sterna
- species: *Sterna hirundo* Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms: *Sterna fluviatilis*, *Sterna fluviatilis*, *Teretistris cinerea*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the common tern?

The common tern is a bird in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory bird.

### How big is the common tern?

The common tern has an adult body mass of 129.2 g and a wingspan of 88 cm.

### What does the common tern eat?

The common tern is a carnivore in the aquatic predator diet category.

### Is the common tern endangered?

No. The common tern is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the common tern live?

Our sources give a lifespan of 33 years for the common tern.

### How many eggs does the common tern lay?

The common tern has a clutch size of 2.5 eggs and 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 22.75 days.

### When does the common tern reach sexual maturity?

The common tern reaches sexual maturity at 2.7 years, with reported values from 2.5 to 3.0 years.

### Who named the common tern?

The common tern, Sterna hirundo, was named by Linnaeus, 1758.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Common tern (Sterna hirundo). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-tern