Typical white tern

Sterna
Diversity of Sterna. First row: Kerguelen, River, Common, Black-bellied Terns. Second row: Forster's, White-cheeked, Roseate, White-fronted Terns. Third row: Snowy-crowned, Arctic, Antarctic, Black-naped Tern, South American Terns.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Clade:	Aequorlitornithes
Order:	Charadriiformes
Suborder:	Lari
Family:	Laridae
Subfamily:	Sterninae
Genus:	Sterna Linnaeus, 1758
Species
Many, see text.

Sterna is a genus of terns in the bird family Sternidae. It used to encompass most "white" terns indiscriminately, but mtDNA sequence comparisons have recently determined that this arrangement is paraphyletic (Bridge et al., 2005). It is now restricted to the typical large white terns occurring near-globally in coastal regions.

Classification

• Genus Sterna - typical white terns
  • Roseate Tern, Sterna dougallii
  • White-fronted Tern, Sterna striata
  • Black-naped Tern, Sterna sumatrana
  • Common Tern, Sterna hirundo
  • South American Tern, Sterna hirundinacea
  • Antarctic Tern, Sterna vittata
  • Arctic Tern, Sterna paradisaea
  • Forster's Tern, Sterna forsteri
  • Snowy-crowned Tern, Sterna trudeaui
  • Black-bellied Tern, Sterna acuticauda (possibly Chlidonias)
  • River Tern, Sterna aurantia
  • White-cheeked Tern, Sterna repressa (possibly Chlidonias)
  • Kerguelen Tern, Sterna virgata

References

• Bridge, E. S.; Jones, A. W. & Baker, A. J. (2005): A phylogenetic framework for the terns (Sternini) inferred from mtDNA sequences: implications for taxonomy and plumage evolution. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35: 459–469. PDF fulltext.

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This article is part of Project Bird Genera, a All Birds project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each genus, including made-up genera.