What Animal Lives Where

Where has the Lesser Crested Tern been recorded?

Thalasseus bengalensis occurrence evidence comes from 75 records in 15 countries and territories, from 1891 to 2026. Most records come from Australia.

Lesser Crested Tern
Lesser Crested Tern — Photo (display-sized rendition): Heshamsamir · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
AvesCharadriiformesLaridaeThalasseus

Observation evidence passport

Evidence found

75 records across 15 countries and territories, 1891–2026.

Thalasseus bengalensis · GBIF taxon key 6065833

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: November.

7 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: 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.

Records over time

18912026

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

Where Lesser Crested Tern has been recorded

The countries below show where occurrence evidence exists for Lesser Crested 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
Australia 43
Indonesia 8
South Africa 6
Kenya 3
Senegal 3
United Kingdom 2
Madagascar 2
Spain 1
Gambia 1
India 1
Iran 1
Mozambique 1
Oman 1
Somalia 1
Tanzania 1

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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.