CreatureData

Kerguelen tern

Sterna virgata Cabanis, 1875

NTNear Threatenedbirds

The kerguelen tern (Sterna virgata) is a species in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh about 126 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.

Kerguelen tern (Sterna virgata)
Photo: User:Fguerraz This illustration was made by François Guerraz · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the kerguelen tern

Weight
126 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
71 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
marinesrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
1 – 2src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the kerguelen tern?

KERGUELEN TERN · WINGSPAN 71 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 71 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the kerguelen tern is about 42% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the kerguelen tern live?

Not recorded

What is the kerguelen tern?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Kerguelen tern (Sterna virgata) is a tern of the Southern Hemisphere.

This seabird mainly breeds colonially in the Kerguelen Islands, as its common name implies. However, smaller colonies are also found in the Prince Edward Islands (i.e. Prince Edward and Marion) and Crozet Islands. The total number of individuals is from 3,500 to 6,500 birds, although there is no recent data from the main colony at Kerguelen. These birds do not inhabit Kerguelen proper, instead nesting on islets free of feral cats. During bad weather, they are known to abandon their colonies.

Kerguelen terns are among the least-ranging of all typical terns. They generally do not reach far into the seas near their breeding grounds.

These birds eat fish and marine invertebrates, especially those found in beds of the seaweed Macrocystis spp. They sometimes also hunt insects on land and catch fish from rivers on Kerguelen.

There are two subspecies:

S. v. mercuri (Voisin, 1971) – Crozet and Prince Edward Island's

S. v. virgata (Cabanis, 1875) – Kerguelen Island

From the Wikipedia article “Kerguelen tern” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kerguelen_tern&oldid=1379257909), 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 kerguelen tern endangered?

The kerguelen tern is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.

  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 Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.

How is the kerguelen tern classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyLaridae
  6. genusSterna
  7. SpeciesSterna virgata Cabanis, 1875
Other names and names in other languages (40)
  • KerguelenseeswaelAfrikaans
  • KerguelensterretjieAfrikaans
  • خرشنة كيرغولينيةArabic
  • Kergelen susüpürəniAzerbaijani
  • Кергеленска рибаркаBulgarian
  • Skravig KergelennBreton
  • Xatrac de les KerguelenCatalan
  • xatrac de les illes KerguelenCatalan
  • rybák kerguelenskýCzech
  • môr-wennol KerguelenWelsh
  • KerguelenterneDanish
  • KerguelenseeschwalbeGerman
  • Kerguelen-SeeschwalbeGerman
  • kergelena ŝternoEsperanto
  • Charrán de las KerguelenSpanish
  • kergueleni tiirEstonian
  • پرستوی دریایی کرگولنPersian
  • kerguelenintiiraFinnish
  • Sterne de KerguelenFrench
  • Sterne des KerguelenFrench
  • sivorepa čigraCroatian
  • kerguelen-szigeteki csérHungarian
  • Sterna di KerguelenItalian
  • Sterna delle KerguelenItalian
  • ケルゲレンアジサシJapanese
  • kergeleninė žuvėdraLithuanian
  • kerguelensternDutch
  • rybitwa kergueleńskaPolish
  • gaivina-das-kerguelenPortuguese
  • andorinha-do-mar-das-kerguelenPortuguese
  • trinta-réis-das-kerguelenPortuguese
  • Кергеленская крачкаRussian
  • rybár kerguelenskýSlovak
  • Kergelenska čigraSerbian
  • kerguelentärnaSwedish
  • Kerguelen sumruTurkish
  • Kerguelen SumrusuTurkish
  • крячок кергеленськийUkrainian
  • 克岛燕鸥Chinese
  • 克格連燕鷗Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the kerguelen tern

Other species in the same genus Sterna.

CompareKerguelen tern vs Common ternKerguelen tern vs Arctic ternKerguelen tern vs Roseate ternKerguelen tern vs River tern

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the kerguelen tern?

An adult kerguelen tern weighs 126 g and has a wingspan of 71 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the kerguelen tern endangered?

The kerguelen tern is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.

What kind of animal is the kerguelen tern?

The kerguelen tern (Sterna virgata) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Kerguelen tern (Sterna virgata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/kerguelen-tern

MLA

“Kerguelen tern (Sterna virgata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/kerguelen-tern.

BibTeX
@misc{kerguelen_tern_2026,
  title = {Kerguelen tern (Sterna virgata)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/kerguelen-tern},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}