CreatureData

White-cheeked tern

Sterna repressa E. Hartert, 1916

LCLeast Concernbirds

The white-cheeked tern (Sterna repressa) is a species in the family Laridae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 90 g to 128 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

White-cheeked tern (Sterna repressa)
Photo: william_stephens · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the white-cheeked tern

Weight
90 g – 128 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
73 cm – 83 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
coastalsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the white-cheeked tern?

WHITE-CHEEKED TERN · WINGSPAN 83 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 83 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the white-cheeked tern is about 49% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the white-cheeked tern live?

Not recorded

What is the white-cheeked tern?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The white-cheeked tern (Sterna repressa) is a species of tern in the family Laridae.

It is found around the coasts on the Red Sea, around the Horn of Africa to Kenya, in the Persian Gulf and along the Iranian coast to Pakistan and western India.

From the Wikipedia article “White-cheeked tern” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White-cheeked_tern&oldid=1379752696), 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 white-cheeked tern endangered?

The white-cheeked 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.

How is the white-cheeked tern classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyLaridae
  6. genusSterna
  7. SpeciesSterna repressa E. Hartert, 1916

Synonyms Sterna albigena, Sterna albigena

Other names and names in other languages (53)
  • WCTEEnglish
  • WitwangsterretjieAfrikaans
  • Witwangseeswael (Witwangsterretjie)Afrikaans
  • الخرشنة بيضاء الخدArabic
  • خرشنة بيضاء الخدودArabic
  • Ağyanaq susüpürənAzerbaijani
  • Арабска рибаркаBulgarian
  • Xatrac galtablancCatalan
  • xatrac de galtes blanquesCatalan
  • rybák bělolícíCzech
  • Môr-wennol FochwenWelsh
  • Hvidkindet TerneDanish
  • WeißwangenseeschwalbeGerman
  • Weißwangen-SeeschwalbeGerman
  • blankvanga ŝternoEsperanto
  • Blankvizaĝa ŝternoEsperanto
  • Charrán arábigoSpanish
  • korallitiirEstonian
  • Txenada musuzuriBasque
  • پرستوی دریایی گونهسفیدPersian
  • پرستو دریایی گونه سفیدPersian
  • arabiantiiraFinnish
  • Sterne à joues blanchesFrench
  • Geabhróg ghruabhánIrish
  • שחפית שוניותHebrew
  • siva čigraCroatian
  • fehérarcú csérHungarian
  • RokþernaIcelandic
  • Sterna guancebiacheItalian
  • Sterna guancebiancheItalian
  • アラビアアジサシJapanese
  • pilkoji žuvėdraLithuanian
  • Arābijas zīriņšLatvian
  • വെൺകവിളൻ ആളMalayalam
  • Arabische SternDutch
  • hvitkinnterneNorwegian
  • rybitwa arabskaPolish
  • چٹی چیک آلی ٹرنWestern Panjabi
  • gaivina-arábicaPortuguese
  • andorinha-do-mar-arábicaPortuguese
  • Garajau-arábicoPortuguese
  • Аравийская крачкаRussian
  • красноморская белощёкая крачкаRussian
  • VilgesnierčearretNorthern Sami
  • rybár bielolíciSlovak
  • pepelasta čigraSlovenian
  • Belolika čigraSerbian
  • Белолика чиграSerbian
  • vitkindad tärnaSwedish
  • Arabistan SumrusuTurkish
  • крячок аравійськийUkrainian
  • 白頰燕鷗Chinese
  • 白颊燕鸥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the white-cheeked tern

Other species in the same genus Sterna.

CompareWhite-cheeked tern vs Common ternWhite-cheeked tern vs Arctic ternWhite-cheeked tern vs Roseate ternWhite-cheeked tern vs River tern

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the white-cheeked tern?

An adult white-cheeked tern weighs 90 g – 128 g and has a wingspan of 73 cm – 83 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the white-cheeked tern endangered?

The white-cheeked tern is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the white-cheeked tern?

The white-cheeked tern (Sterna repressa) 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). White-cheeked tern (Sterna repressa). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-cheeked-tern

MLA

“White-cheeked tern (Sterna repressa).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-cheeked-tern.

BibTeX
@misc{white_cheeked_tern_2026,
  title = {White-cheeked tern (Sterna repressa)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-cheeked-tern},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}