Editing Sterna (section)

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = 2014-05-18 Sterna hirundo, Killingworth Lake, Northumberland 05.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Common tern|Sterna hirundo]]'' in [[Northumberland]]
| taxon = Sterna
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = 13, see text
| type_species = ''[[Common tern|Sterna hirundo]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
}}

'''''Sterna''''' is a [[genus]] of [[tern]]s in the bird family [[Laridae]]. The genus used to encompass most "white" terns indiscriminately, but [[mtDNA]] [[DNA sequence|sequence]] comparisons have determined that this arrangement was [[paraphyletic]]. It is now restricted to the typical medium-sized white terns with deeply forked tails, which occur near-globally, mostly in coastal regions but several also using freshwater habitats inland.<ref name=Bridge>Bridge, E. S.; Jones, A. W. & Baker, A. J. (2005). [http://www2.hawaii.edu/~khayes/Journal_Club/summer2006/Bridge_et_al_2005_MPE.pdf A phylogenetic framework for the terns (Sternini) inferred from mtDNA sequences: implications for taxonomy and plumage evolution] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720204025/http://www2.hawaii.edu/~khayes/Journal_Club/summer2006/Bridge_et_al_2005_MPE.pdf |date=2006-07-20 }}. ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' '''35''': 459–469.</ref>