Sandwich tern

Adults weigh 199.8 g, with a highest reported value of 296 g, and the wingspan is 1 m. It lays 1 clutch per year with 1.21 eggs per clutch, incubates for 23.5 days and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, not a threatened category.

Weight

199.8 g – 296 gsrc for Weight

Length

Not recorded

Wingspan

1 msrc for Wingspan

Lifespan

27.2 years – 30.8 yearssrc for Lifespan

Diet

Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet

Main food

Not recorded

Habitat

marinesrc for Habitat

Egg incubation

23.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation

Young per litter or clutch

1.21src for Young per litter or clutch

Age at maturity

2.49 years – 3 yearssrc for Age at maturity

Litters or clutches a year

1src for Litters or clutches a year

Reproduction

Eggssrc for Reproduction

Lifestyle

Aerialsrc for Lifestyle

Migration

Migratorysrc for Migration

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status

Countries on record

Not recorded

Not recorded

The sandwich tern is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

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 Least Concern species.

1. kingdomAnimalia
2. phylumChordata
3. classAves
4. orderCharadriiformes
5. familyLaridae
6. genusThalasseus
7. SpeciesThalasseus sandvicensis (Latham, 1787)

Synonyms Sterna boysii, Sterna cantiaca, Sterna sandvicensis, Sterna sandvicensis, Sterna sandvicensis sandvicensis, Sterna sandwicensis, Sterna stubberica, Thalasseus sandvicensis, Thalasseus sandvicensis sandvicensis

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

CompareSandwich tern vs Swift ternSandwich tern vs Lesser crested ternSandwich tern vs Sea gullSandwich tern vs Chinese crested 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{sandwich_tern_2026,
  title = {Sandwich tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/sandwich-tern},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}