What Animal Lives Where

Where has the Least Tern been recorded?

Sternula antillarum occurrence evidence comes from 4,053 records in 15 countries and territories, from 1869 to 2026. Most records come from United States.

Least Tern
Least Tern — Photo (display-sized rendition): Paul Danese · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
AvesCharadriiformesLaridaeSternula

Observation evidence passport

Evidence found

4,053 records across 15 countries and territories, 1869–2026.

Sternula antillarum · GBIF taxon key 5789285

Source coverage

CC0 GBIF Animalia occurrence facets, including country, month and year summaries.

Refreshed 2026-08-23. Inspect the taxon on GBIF.

What this means

The species has been recorded in the listed places in the stated source universe. Peak month: June.

4 months reach at least 10% of the peak facet count.

What this does not mean

repeated describes the record pattern, not a formal range, residency, abundance or conservation assessment.

A single record remains evidence of a recording, not proof that a population lives there.

Compare this animal’s observation pattern

When it is recorded

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: June. 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

18692026

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

Where Least Tern has been recorded

The countries below show where occurrence evidence exists for Least 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.

PlaceRecordsShare
United States 3,791
Colombia 134
Mexico 89
Bahamas 7
United Kingdom 7
Puerto Rico 6
Bonaire 4
Brazil 4
DR Congo 3
Curaçao 2
Canada 1
Guyana 1
Cayman Islands 1
Panama 1
Peru 1

Related animals

Others in the family Laridae.

Lesser Black-backed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
4,046,434 records
Herring Gull
Herring Gull
3,247,099 records
Black-headed Gull
Black-headed Gull
1,123,276 records
Mew Gull
Mew Gull
986,748 records
Common Tern
Common Tern
519,969 records
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
493,641 records
Mediterranean Gull
Mediterranean Gull
263,862 records
Arctic Tern
Arctic Tern
232,790 records
Record pattern: repeated
Repeated records across many years and months. 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.