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  Profile

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  In flight

Seabirds

Fairy Tern

Sternula nereis

• uncommon
• 38 km/h
• Vulnerable

One of the world's smallest terns. Plunge-dives for fish with a bill barely bigger than the fish itself.

Population

2,500-9,999 mature individuals, decreasing (~23% decline 1980-2010; NZ subspecies down to <40 birds / ~9 breeding pairs)

Habitat

Sheltered coastal habitats - sandy beaches, sand dunes, shingle spits, estuaries, lagoons, and saltwater lakes, breeding above the high-tide line below vegetation

Fun fact

The New Zealand subspecies (Sternula nereis davisae) is the country's rarest native breeding bird, with fewer than 40 individuals and roughly 9 breeding pairs left in the wild.

Range

Southwestern Pacific: coastal Australia (Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania), New Caledonia, and northern New Zealand (North Island), across four recognized subspecies (S. n. horni - WA; S. n. nereis - SA/Vic/Tas; S. n. exsul - New Caledonia; S. n. davisae - NZ)

Diet

Small schooling fish (e.g. sprat, hardyheads, garfish, gobies, flounder) caught by plunge-diving, plus some crustaceans and molluscs

Size

0.25 m

Wingspan

0.48 m