🐾 What Animal Lives Where

Where does the South American Tern live?

Sterna hirundinacea has 61,715 records in 11 countries and territories, from 1820 to 2026. Most records come from Chile.

AnimaliaChordataAvesCharadriiformesLaridaeSterna

When it is recorded

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: November. Records cluster in the months an animal is present and being looked for, so a summer peak can reflect observer effort as much as the animal.

Where it is recorded

PlaceRecordsShare
Chile 32,683
Argentina 16,772
Falkland Islands 4,649
Brazil 3,136
Uruguay 2,627
Peru 1,106
Ecuador 735
Colombia 2
United Kingdom 2
ZZ 2
Nigeria 1

Related animals

Others in the family Laridae.

Ring-billed Gull
Ring-billed Gull
11,223,960 records
Herring Gull
Herring Gull
7,289,858 records
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
6,915,295 records
American herring gull
American herring gull
6,899,110 records
Black-headed Gull
Black-headed Gull
6,838,408 records
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
5,036,634 records
Mew Gull
Mew Gull
3,398,916 records
Laughing Gull
Laughing Gull
3,221,312 records
Status from the records: resident
Recorded across many years and months — an established presence. This is inferred from how many years and months the animal appears in, not from a range map — treat it as evidence, not a formal assessment.