Little tern migration Sternula albifrons
▶ Follow the little tern across the big globe
Press ▶ to play the year. Line: a simplified typical route, joining the main cluster of GBIF records in each month (adjusted for observer effort).
| Scientific name | Sternula albifrons |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 52 cm |
| Adult weight | 57 g (adult) |
| IUCN status | Least concern |
| Records mapped | 407,587 (GBIF) |
| GPS / geolocator tracks | none with an open licence yet |
Facts from Wikidata Q12267692 (CC0).
When does the little tern arrive in the UK?
A summer visitor in the records: sightings rise sharply from mid April, are near their peak by late April, and fall away after early September.
Bars: this species’ share of all UK bird records in GBIF (CC0/CC BY), by month, scaled to the peak month. Based on 23,241 UK records. Weekly counts from the GBIF occurrence search API (country=GB). Dates are read from records, not from a survey, so treat them as a guide.
When do they arrive in and leave the UK? →
Migration in the data
407,587 GBIF records (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 licences only) are mapped here, in 1.41° grid cells, month by month.
In Europe and Africa, the centre of the records (adjusted for observer effort) is furthest north in July (about 44°N) and furthest south in December (about 5°S).
More than half of the effort-adjusted signal there is south of the Equator in: December.
Month by month: centre of records in Europe and Africa
| Month | Centre (latitude) | South of the Equator |
|---|---|---|
| January | 0°N | 37% |
| February | 1°S | 46% |
| March | 8°N | 30% |
| April | 33°N | 4% |
| May | 41°N | 1% |
| June | 43°N | 0% |
| July | 44°N | 1% |
| August | 40°N | 2% |
| September | 34°N | 3% |
| October | 19°N | 13% |
| November | 4°N | 40% |
| December | 5°S | 56% |
Tracked birds
No openly licensed (CC0 / CC BY) tracking data package for this species was found in the Movebank Data Repository yet, so only records are shown.
About the little tern
The little tern is a small seabird of the family Laridae. It is widely distributed breeding on the coasts and inland waterways of Europe, Asia, north and west Africa, and eastern Australia. It winters in the subtropical and tropical oceans as far south as South Africa and Australia.
From the Wikipedia article “Little tern” (revision 1369130856), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources
GBIF occurrence records, licence CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, observations only (no specimens), filtered with: taxonKey=5789279&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&hasGeospatialIssue=false&basisOfRecord=HUMAN_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=MACHINE_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=OBSERVATION. Monthly queries: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec. GBIF.org (23 October 2026) occurrence data accessed via the GBIF API; a GBIF download DOI is still to be added. Contributing datasets.