Editing Tern (section)

=== Species ===
The [[cladogram]] shows the relationships between the tern genera, and the currently recognised species, based on [[mitochondrial DNA]] studies, are listed below:<ref name= bridge/>
{{Cladogram|caption=Based on Bridge ''et al'' (2005)<ref name= bridge/> and Černý & Natale (2021)<ref name="Cerny"/>
|clades={{clade|style=font-size:80%;line-height:80%
   |1={{clade
      |1= ''[[Anous]]''
      |2={{clade
         |1=''[[Gygis]]''
         |2={{clade
            |1=''[[Onychoprion]]''
            |2={{clade
               |1=''[[Sternula]]''
               |2={{clade
                  |1=''[[Phaetusa]]''
                  |2={{clade
                     |1={{clade
                        |1=''[[Gelochelidon]]''
                        |2=''[[Hydroprogne]]''
                        }}
                     |2={{clade
                        |1=''[[Larosterna]]''
                        |2={{clade
                           |1=''[[Chlidonias]]''
                           |2={{clade
                              |1=''[[Thalasseus]]''
                              |2=''[[Sterna]]''
                              }}
                           }}
                        }}
                     }}
                  }}
               }}
            }}
         }}
      }}
   }}
}}

{| class="wikitable collapsible"
|-
! Image
! Genus
!Species
|-
|[[File:Anous minutus by Gregg Yan 02.jpg|175px]]
|''[[Anous]]'' {{small|Stephens, 1826}} — [[Noddy (tern)|noddies]]
|
* [[Brown noddy]] (''Anous stolidus'')
* [[Black noddy]] (''A. minutus''; sometimes considered to be a subspecies of the lesser noddy)<ref name= harrison388/>
* [[Lesser noddy]] (''A. tenuirostris'')
* [[Blue noddy]] (''A. cerulea''; formerly placed in a separate genus ''Procelsterna'')<ref name= harrison388/>
* [[Grey noddy]] (''A. albivitta''; sometimes considered to be a subspecies of the blue noddy; formerly placed in a separate genus ''Procelsterna'')<ref name= harrison388/>
|-
|[[File:White tern with fish.jpg|175px]]
|''[[Gygis]]'' {{small|Wagler, 1832}} — noddies
|
* [[White tern]] (''Gygis alba'' also sometimes called white noddy)
|-
|[[File:Sterna fuscata.JPG|175px]]
|''[[Onychoprion]]'' {{small|Wagler, 1832}} — brown-backed terns
|
* [[Spectacled tern]] (''Onychoprion lunatus'')
* [[Bridled tern]] (''O. anaethetus'')
* [[Sooty tern]] (''O. fuscatus'')
* [[Aleutian tern]] (''O. aleuticus'')
|-
|[[File:Yellow-billed tern Sternula superciliaris.jpg|175px]]
|''[[Sternula]]'' {{small|F. Boie, 1822}} — little white terns
|
* [[Fairy tern]] (''Sternula nereis'')
* [[Damara tern]] (''S. balaenarum'')
* [[Little tern]] (''S. albifrons'')
* [[Saunders's tern]] (''S. saundersi'' formerly considered to be a subspecies of the little tern)<ref name= harrison382>Harrison (1988) p. 382.</ref>
* [[Least tern]] (''S. antillarum'' formerly considered to be a subspecies of the little tern)<ref name= harrison382/>
* [[Yellow-billed tern]] (''S. superciliaris'')
* [[Peruvian tern]] (''S. lorata'')
|-
|[[File:Large-billed Tern (Phaetusa simplex), Pantanal, Brazil.jpg|175px]]
|''[[Phaetusa]]'' {{small|}}  — large-billed terns
|
* [[Large-billed tern]] (''Phaetusa simplex'')
|-
|[[File:Sterna-caspia-010.jpg|175px]]
|''[[Hydroprogne]]'' {{small|Kaup, 1829}}— Caspian terns
|
* [[Caspian tern]] (''Hydroprogne caspia'')
|-
|[[File:Gull-billed Tern in Koonthalulam, India, by Dr. Tejinder Singh Rawal.jpg|175px]]
|''[[Gelochelidon]]''  {{small|Brehm, 1830}} — gull-billed terns
|
* [[Gull-billed tern]] (''Gelochelidon nilotica'')
* [[Australian tern]] (''Gelochelidon macrotarsa'')

|-
|[[File:Larosterna inca3.jpg|175px]]
|''[[Larosterna]]'' {{small|}} — Inca terns
|
* [[Inca tern]] (''Larosterna inca'')
|-
|[[File:White-winged Tern, Mścichy, Biebrzański Park Narodowy, Polska.jpg|175px]]
|''[[marsh tern|Chlidonias]]'' {{small|Rafinesque, 1822}}  — marsh terns
|
* [[Black tern]] (''Chlidonias niger'')
* [[White-winged tern]] (or white-winged black tern ''C. leucopterus'')
* [[Whiskered tern]] (''C. hybridus'')
* [[Black-fronted tern]] (''C. albostriatus'' sometimes placed in ''Sterna'')<ref name = birdlifealbostriata/>
|-
|[[File:2020-07-18 Thalasseus sandvicensis, St Marys Island, Northumberland 01.jpg|175px]]
|''[[Thalasseus]]'' {{small|F. Boie, 1822}} — crested terns
|
* [[Lesser crested tern]] (''Thalasseus bengalensis'')
* [[West African crested tern]] (''Thalasseus albididorsalis'' recently split from ''T. maximus'')<ref name= collinson/>
* [[Royal tern]] (''T. maximus'')
* [[Greater crested tern]] (''T. bergii'' also known as swift tern)
* [[Chinese crested tern]] (''T. bernsteini'')
* [[Elegant tern]] (''T. elegans'')
* [[Sandwich tern]] (''T. sandvicensis'')
* [[Cabot's tern]] (''T. acuflavidus'' recently split from ''T. sandvicensis'')<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2019 | title=Sandpipers, snipes, coursers | work=World Bird List Version 9.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sandpipers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=25 June 2019 }}</ref>

|-
|[[File:2014-05-18 Sterna hirundo, Killingworth Lake, Northumberland 02.jpg|175px]]
|''[[Sterna]]'' {{small|Linnaeus, 1758}} — large white terns
|
* [[Forster's tern]] (''Sterna forsteri'')
* [[Snowy-crowned tern]] (''S. trudeaui'')
* [[Common tern]] (''S. hirundo'')
* [[Roseate tern]] (''S. dougallii'')
* [[White-fronted tern]] (''S. striata'')
* [[Black-naped tern]] (''S. sumatrana'')
* [[South American tern]] (''S. hirundinacea'')
* [[Antarctic tern]] (''S. vittata'')
* [[Kerguelen tern]] (''S. virgata'')
* [[Arctic tern]] (''S. paradisaea'')
* [[River tern]] (''S. aurantia'')
* [[Black-bellied tern]] (''S. acuticauda'' possibly ''Chlidonias'')<ref name= bridge/>
* [[White-cheeked tern]] (''S. repressa'' possibly ''Chlidonias'')<ref name= bridge/>
|-
|}

In addition to extant species, the fossil record includes a [[Miocene]] [[chronospecies|palaeospecies]], ''[[Sterna milne-edwardsii]]''.<ref name = fossil>{{cite web | title= Fossil record of the Charadriiformes | url= http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Fossilgroups/charadriformes/fossils.html | publisher= Palaeobiology and Biodiversity Research Group, University of Bristol | access-date= 13 May 2013 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023443/http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Palaeofiles/Fossilgroups/charadriformes/fossils.html | archive-date= 4 March 2016 | url-status= dead | df= dmy-all }}</ref>

The birds in the genus ''[[Anous]]'' are known as noddies, the ''[[Chlidonias]]'' species are the marsh terns,<ref name =HBW/> and all other species comprise the sea terns.<ref name= Barlow>Barlow ''et al.'' (1987) p. 212.</ref><ref name= perrins>Perrins & Arlott (1987) p. 130.</ref>