What Is The Scientific Name Of Common Tern? (ANSWER)
SCIENTIFIC NAME OF COMMON TERN – In this topic, we are going to identify the scientific name of Common tern.
It is a species of seabird in the seabird family Laridae. Its breeding adults have light grey upperparts, white to very light grey underparts, a black cap, orange-red legs, and a narrow pointed bill.
The bill is mostly red with a black tip or all black depending on the subspecies.
Terns are small to medium-sized seabirds closely related to the gulls, skimmers and skuas and are gull-like in appearance but have a lighter build, long pointed wings.
Common terns are 31 to 35 centimeters or 12 to 14 inches in length, including a 6 to 9 centimeters or 2.4 to 3.5 inches in the tail. Its wingspan is 77 to 98 centimeters or 30 to 39 inches long.
Scientific Name
The binomial name of common tern is Sterna hirundo.
Sterna is a genus in the seabird family Laridae. Sterna is derived from stearn, an Old English term, where it is akin to the term used by Frisians.
The specific epithet hirundo, on the other hand, is the Latin term for swallow.
There are four major subspecies:
- Sterna hirundo hirundo | Europe, North Africa, Asia east to western Siberia and Kazakhstan, and North America.
- Sterna hirundo minussensis | Lake Baikal east to northern Mongolia and southern Tibet.
- Sterna hirundo longipennis | Central Siberia to China, also Alaska.
- Sterna hirundo tibetana | Himalayas to southern Mongolia and China.
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