Where has the Common Tern been recorded?

Sterna hirundo occurrence evidence comes from 521,429 records in 82 countries and territories, from 1833 to 2026. Most records come from Sweden.

• 521,429 records
• 82 places
• 157 years recorded
• Aves class

Observation evidence passport

Compare this animal’s observation pattern

When it is recorded

Peak month: May. 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.

Records over time

Recording effort has risen steeply almost everywhere since the 1990s, so a rising line usually shows more observers rather than more animals.

Where Common Tern has been recorded

The countries below show where occurrence evidence exists for Common Tern. They do not define a complete habitat range: survey effort differs by place, and historical or one-off records can appear alongside repeated presence.

Showing the top 40 of 82 places.

Related animals

Others in the family Laridae.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

4,046,434 records

Herring Gull

3,247,099 records

Black-headed Gull

1,123,276 records

Mew Gull

986,748 records

Great Black-backed Gull

493,641 records

Mediterranean Gull

263,862 records

Arctic Tern

232,790 records

Little Gull

200,388 records