# White-winged tern (*Chlidonias leucopterus*)

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

The white-winged tern (Chlidonias leucopterus), also called the White-winged black tern, is a bird of the family Laridae in the order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory bird of wetland habitats that forages in the air as an aquatic predator and carnivore. Adults weigh from 54.1 to 70.3 g, with a representative mass of 54.2 g, and have a wingspan of 65 cm.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 54.1 g – 70.3 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 65 cm |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 20 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2.91 |
| Age at maturity | 23.9 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| 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: Chlidonias
- species: *Chlidonias leucopterus* (Temminck, 1815)

Synonyms: *Hydrochelidon leucoptera*, *Hydrochelidon leucoptera belli*, *Hydrochelidon subleucoptera*, *Sterna leucoptera*, *Sterna leucoururus*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the white-winged tern?

The white-winged tern is a small bird of the family Laridae in the order Charadriiformes.

### How much does the white-winged tern weigh?

Adults have a representative body mass of 54.2 g, with reported values from 54.1 to 70.3 g.

### What does the white-winged tern eat?

The white-winged tern is an aquatic predator and a carnivore that forages in the air.

### What habitat does the white-winged tern use?

Its habitat is wetland. It is a migratory bird.

### Is the white-winged tern endangered?

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

### When does the white-winged tern reach sexual maturity?

It reaches sexual maturity at 2 years of age.

### Who named the white-winged tern?

Its scientific name, Chlidonias leucopterus, is credited to (Temminck, 1815).

## 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: White-winged tern (Chlidonias leucopterus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-winged-tern