Whiskered tern
Chlidonias hybrida (Pallas, 1811)
The whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida) is a bird in the family Laridae and the order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory bird with an adult body mass of 84 g and a wingspan of 67 cm.
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Quick facts about the whiskered tern
An aquatic predator and carnivore, it lives in wetland habitat and has an aerial lifestyle. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category, and checklists record it in Australia.
- Weight
- 78 g – 90 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 64 cm – 70 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 18.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.64src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the whiskered tern?
Photos of the whiskered tern
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the whiskered 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 whiskered 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 whiskered tern?
The whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida) is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek khelidonios, "swallow-like", from khelidon, "swallow". The specific hybridus is Latin for hybrid; Peter Simon Pallas thought it might be a hybrid of white-winged black tern and common tern, writing "Sterna fissipes [Chlidonias leucopterus] et Hirundine [Sterna hirundo] natam".
From the Wikipedia article “Whiskered tern” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Whiskered_tern&oldid=1375762462), 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 whiskered tern endangered?
The whiskered 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 whiskered tern classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyLaridae
- genusChlidonias
- SpeciesChlidonias hybrida (Pallas, 1811)
Synonyms Chlidonias hybridus, Chlidonias hybridus hybridus, Chlidonias hybridus hybridus, Chlidonias hybridus hybridus, Chlidonias hybridus hybridus, Chlidonias leucopareai, Chlidonias leucopareia, Hydrochelidon hybrida, Hydrochelidon leucopareia, Sterna delamotta
Other names and names in other languages (83)
- WHTEEnglish
- WitbaardmeerswaelAfrikaans
- Witbaardmeerswael (Witbaardsterretjie)Afrikaans
- WitbaardsterretjieAfrikaans
- خرشنة هجينةArabic
- Gaviotín claroAragonese
- garrochín caretuAsturian
- Белашчокая рыбачкаBelarusian
- Белобуза рибаркаBulgarian
- Stêrwennel jodoù gwennBreton
- fumarell carablancCatalan
- Шур питлӗ шывчӗкеҫChuvash
- rybák bahenníCzech
- Corswennol farfogWelsh
- Cors-Wennol FarfogWelsh
- Cors-Wenoliaid BarfogWelsh
- Hvidskægget TerneDanish
- Weißbart-SeeschwalbeGerman
- WeißbartseeschwalbeGerman
- ΜουστακογλάρονοGreek
- Vilvanga ŝternoEsperanto
- blankliphara ŝternoEsperanto
- Fumarel cariblancoSpanish
- habeviiresEstonian
- پرستو دریایی تیرهPersian
- valkoposkitiiraFinnish
- Kinnhvít ternaFaroese
- Guifette moustacFrench
- Geabhróg bhroinndubhIrish
- Sternag chleeau-ghooScottish Gaelic
- Gaivina de cara brancaGalician
- מרומית לבנת-לחיHebrew
- מרומית לבנת לחיHebrew
- מירומית לבנת-לחיHebrew
- bjelobrada čigraCroatian
- fattyúszerkőHungarian
- Ջրածիծառ սպիտակաայտArmenian
- Dara-laut kumisIndonesian
- SkeggþernaIcelandic
- SkeggßernaIcelandic
- mignattino piombatoItalian
- クロハラアジサシJapanese
- Ақжағал қарқылдақKazakh
- 구레나루제비갈매기Korean
- 구레나룻제비갈매기Korean
- WäissbaartséischmuewelLuxembourgish
- baltaskruostė žuvėdraLithuanian
- baltvaigu zīriņšLatvian
- SambindranoMalagasy
- белобрада рибаркаMacedonian
- കരി ആളMalayalam
- कल्लेदार सुरयMarathi
- Burung Camar BermisaiMalay
- witwangsternDutch
- kvitkinnsvartterneNorwegian Nynorsk
- HvitkinnsvartterneNorwegian
- rybitwa białowąsaPolish
- gaivina-dos-pauisPortuguese
- Gaivina-de-faces-brancasPortuguese
- chirighiţa cu obraz albRomanian
- Chirighiţă cu obraz albRomanian
- Белощёкая крачкаRussian
- Белощёкая болотная крачкаRussian
- белощёкая боло́тная кра́чкаRussian
- SkávžádirruNorthern Sami
- skávžačearretNorthern Sami
- vilgesnierdirruNorthern Sami
- čorík bahennýSlovak
- Rybár bahennýSlovak
- belolična čigraSlovenian
- Belobrka čigraSerbian
- Белобрка чиграSerbian
- skäggtärnaSwedish
- மீசை ஆலாTamil
- นกนางนวลแกลบเคราขาวThai
- biyikli sumruTurkish
- Крячок білощокийUkrainian
- 须浮鸥Chinese
- 灰翅浮鷗Chinese
- 灰翅浮鸥Chinese
- 鬚浮鷗Chinese
- 黑腹燕鷗Chinese
- 黑腹燕鷗〔鬚浮鷗〕Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the whiskered tern
Other species in the same genus Chlidonias.
White-winged tern
Chlidonias leucopterus
Black tern
Chlidonias niger
Black-fronted tern
Chlidonias albostriatus
CompareWhiskered tern vs White-winged ternWhiskered tern vs Black ternWhiskered tern vs Black-fronted tern
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the whiskered tern?
The whiskered tern is a bird in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. It is a migratory species with an aerial lifestyle.
How heavy is the whiskered tern?
The whiskered tern has an adult body mass of 84 g, with reported values from 78 g to 90 g. Its wingspan is 67 cm, from 64 cm to 70 cm.
What does the whiskered tern eat?
The whiskered tern is an aquatic predator and a carnivore.
Which countries is the whiskered tern recorded in?
Checklists record the whiskered tern in Australia. Its habitat is wetland.
Is the whiskered tern endangered?
No. The whiskered tern is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How many eggs does the whiskered tern lay?
The whiskered tern lays 2.6 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 18.5 days.
Who named the whiskered tern?
The whiskered tern, Chlidonias hybrida, was named by (Pallas, 1811).
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). Whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/whiskered-tern
“Whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/whiskered-tern.
@misc{whiskered_tern_2026,
title = {Whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/whiskered-tern},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}