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Little Tern
Sternula albifrons
species of Sternidae


© Sylvia Urbaniak
juv.
ad.
number longest
primary 10 per wing approx. 139.0mm n=1
P9 (100%)
secondary 17 per wing approx. 55.5mm n=1
S13 (100%)
retrix 12
approx. 73.5mm n=1
R6 (100%)
wing length1 hand-wing-index1,2 (HWI) primaries-index wing length/longest primary ratio hand-wing-index/primaries-index ratio
161 - 178mm n=5 63 - 72% n=4 65 - 65% n=1 no data available no data available
detailed information

The wing length is measured on the flattened and straightened wing ("maximum chord") from the carpal joint to the tip of the longest primary feather, the so-called "Kleinschmidt-method".

combined data from:
Avonet1: 161 - 178mm n=5

The hand-wing-index, introduced by Kipp 1959, is calculated as the ratio of the hand length (difference between the length of the longest primary and the first secondary) to the wing length.

combined data from:
Avonet1: 63 - 72% n=4,
The primaries-index is calculated as the ratio of the longest primary feather length to the first (outermost) secondary. It is the equivalent of the hand-wing index for feather measurements. The wing length/longest primary ratio is calculated as the ratio of the wing length to the length of the longest primary feather. The hand-wing-index/primaries-index ratio is calculated as the ratio of the hand-wing index to the primaries-index.
1 Tobias, J. A., et al. (2022). AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds.
2 Kipp, Friedrich A.: "Der Handflügel-Index als flugbiologisches Maß", erschienen in "Vogelwarte - Zeitschrift für Vogelkunde", 1959, Band 20, Heft 1



country allocations

extant

Afghanistan · Albania · Algeria · Angola (vagrant) · Armenia · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Belarus · Belgium · Benin · Bosnia and Herzegovina · British Indian Ocean Territory · Brunei Darussalam · Bulgaria · Burkina Faso (vagrant) · Burundi · Cabo Verde (vagrant) · Cambodia · Cameroon · Central Asian Russia · Chad · China · Colombia (vagrant) · Congo · Congo, The Democratic Republic of the · Côte d'Ivoire · Croatia · Cyprus · Czechia · Denmark · Djibouti · Eastern Asian Russia · Egypt · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Estonia · European Russia · Faroe Islands (vagrant) · Fiji (vagrant) · Finland · France · Gabon · Gambia · Georgia · Germany · Ghana · Gibraltar · Greece · Guam · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Hong Kong · Hungary · India · Indonesia · Iran, Islamic Republic of · Iraq · Ireland · Israel · Italy · Japan · Jordan · Kazakhstan · Kenya · Kiribati (vagrant) · Korea, Democratic People's Republic of · Korea, Republic of · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan · Lao People's Democratic Republic · Latvia · Lebanon (vagrant) · Liberia · Libya · Lithuania · Luxembourg (vagrant) · Malaysia · Maldives (vagrant) · Mali · Malta (vagrant) · Marshall Islands · Mauritania · Mauritius · Micronesia, Federated States of · Moldova, Republic of · Montenegro · Morocco · Mozambique · Myanmar · Namibia (vagrant) · Nepal · Netherlands · New Caledonia (vagrant) · New Zealand · Niger · Nigeria · North Macedonia · Northern Mariana Islands · Norway · Oman · Pakistan · Palau · Palestine, State of · Papua New Guinea · Philippines · Poland · Portugal · Qatar · Romania · Russian Federation · Samoa (vagrant) · Saudi Arabia · Senegal · Serbia · Seychelles (vagrant) · Sierra Leone (vagrant) · Singapore · Slovakia · Slovenia · Solomon Islands · Somalia · South Africa · Spain · Sri Lanka · Sudan (origin uncertain) · Sweden · Switzerland · Syrian Arab Republic · Taiwan, Province of China · Tajikistan · Tanzania, United Republic of · Thailand · Timor-Leste · Togo · Tunisia · Türkiye · Turkmenistan · Ukraine · United Arab Emirates · United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland · United States of America (vagrant) · Uzbekistan · Viet Nam · Western Sahara · Yemen (vagrant) ·
source: IUCN 2025. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2025-1 <www.iucnredlist.org>
assessment data: 155476219 | 2019

Waders, gulls and auks

conservation status

  • CITES
    not listed
  • Regulation (EG) Nr. 865/2006
    not listed
  • German Federal Nature Conservation Act §44
    strictly protected