Fairy Tern
Encyclopedia
The Fairy Tern is a small tern
which occurs in the southwestern Pacific.
There are three subspecies
:
Formerly classified as a Species of Least Concern
by the IUCN, recent research shows that its numbers have been decreasing rapidly throughout its range; the New Zealand subspecies has been on the brink of extinction for decades. The Fairy Tern was consequently uplisted to Vulnerable
status in 2008.
Tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily of the gull family Laridae . They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks...
which occurs in the southwestern Pacific.
There are three subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
:
- Australian Fairy Tern, Sterna nereis nereis - breeds in AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
- New Caledonian Fairy Tern, Sterna nereis exsul - breeds in New CaledoniaNew CaledoniaNew Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
- New Zealand Fairy TernNew Zealand Fairy TernThe New Zealand Fairy Tern also known as tara-iti is a small tern which breeds on the lower half of the Northland Peninsula of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the smallest tern breeding in New Zealand and is a subspecies of the Fairy Tern.Breeding is limited to four regular sites: Waipu,...
, Sterna nereis davisae - breeds in northern New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
Formerly classified as a Species of Least Concern
Least Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
by the IUCN, recent research shows that its numbers have been decreasing rapidly throughout its range; the New Zealand subspecies has been on the brink of extinction for decades. The Fairy Tern was consequently uplisted to Vulnerable
Vulnerable species
On 30 January 2010, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 9694 Vulnerable species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and sub-populations.-References:...
status in 2008.