''Sternula'' is a genus of small white
tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated as a subgroup of the family Laridae which includes gulls and skimmers and consists o ...
s. It is often subsumed into the larger genus ''
Sterna
''Sterna'' is a genus of terns in the bird family Laridae. The genus used to encompass most "white" terns indiscriminately, but mtDNA sequence comparisons have recently determined that this arrangement is paraphyletic. It is now restricted to t ...
'', although the most recent changes to the
AOU checklist considers it a separate genus.
The genus name is a diminutive of ''
Sterna
''Sterna'' is a genus of terns in the bird family Laridae. The genus used to encompass most "white" terns indiscriminately, but mtDNA sequence comparisons have recently determined that this arrangement is paraphyletic. It is now restricted to t ...
, "tern".
Species
Listed alphabetically.
Shorebirds & allies
IOC World Bird List, ver.3.2.
Saunders's and least terns were both formerly considered to be subspecies of little tern.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q76408
Bird genera
Taxa named by Friedrich Boie