Text extracted from Gill B.J.; Bell, B.D.; Chambers, G.K.; Medway, D.G.; Palma, R.L.; Scofield, R.P.; Tennyson, A.J.D.; Worthy, T.H. 2010. Checklist of the birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica. 4th edition. Wellington, Te Papa Press and Ornithological Society of New Zealand. Pages 191, 223, 230, 240 & 243.

Order CHARADRIIFORMES: Waders, Gulls and Terns The family sequence of Christidis & Boles (1994), who adopted that of Sibley et al. (1988) and Sibley & Monroe (1990), is followed here.

Suborder LARI: Skuas, Gulls, Terns and Skimmers Condon (1975) and Checklist Committee (1990) recognised three subfamilies within the Laridae (Larinae, Sterninae and Megalopterinae) but this division has not been widely adopted. We follow Gochfeld & Burger (1996) in recognising gulls in one family (Laridae) and terns and noddies in another (Sternidae). The sequence of species for Stercorariidae and Laridae follows Peters (1934) and for Sternidae follows Bridge et al. (2005).

Family STERNIDAE Bonaparte: Terns and Noddies Sterninae Bonaparte, 1838: Geogr. Comp. List. Birds: 61 – Type genus Sterna Linnaeus, 1758.

Most recommendations from a new study of tern and noddy relationships, based on mtDNA (Bridge et al. 2005), have already been adopted by the Taxonomic Subcommittee of the British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee (Sangster et al. 2005) and the American Ornithologists’ Union Committee on Classification and Nomenclature (Banks, R.C. et al. 2006). This follows many years of disagreement about the generic classification of terns for which 3–12 genera have recently been used (see Bridge et al. 2005). The genera and their sequence recommended by Bridge et al. (2005) are accepted here, with the exception that we place the crested tern in Sterna rather than Thalasseus, because the evidence for the latter association is weaker (Sangster et al. 2005).

Genus Sterna Linnaeus Sterna Linnaeus, 1758: Syst. Nat., 10th edition 1: 137 – Type species (by tautonymy) Sterna hirundo Linnaeus. Thalasseus Boie, 1822: Isis von Oken, Heft 1: col. 563 – Type species (by subsequent designation) Thalasseus cantiacus (Gmelin) = Sterna sandvicensis Latham.

Sterna vulgaris Ellman (1861: 7472 – New Zealand) is a junior synonym of Sterna striata according to Sibson (1992) but the description is inadequate, the beak colour does not fit S. striata, the Mäori name refers to S. caspia and there is no type specimen; therefore, S. vulgaris cannot be identified and is a nomen dubium. Sterna parva Ellman (1861: 7473 – New Zealand) could refer to several small tern species and, with no type specimen to confirm its identity, S. parva is also a nomen dubium.

Sterna bergii Lichtenstein Crested Tern Sterna bergii Lichtenstein, 1823: Verzeich. Doubl., Berlin: 80 – Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. Thalasseus bergii (Lichtenstein); Christidis & Boles 2008, Syst. Taxon. Australian Birds: 26, 144.

Sterna bergii cristata is thought to be the subspecies reaching New Zealand (Turbott 1952). It breeds in South-east Asia, Indonesia, Australia, western and central Pacific east to the Tuamotu Archipelago. Extralimital subspecies are: S. b. bergii Lichtenstein, breeds in Namibia and South Africa; S. b. thalassina Stresemann, 1914, breeds in Tanzania; and S. b. velox Cretzschmar, 1827, breeds in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean (Higgins & Davies 1996).

Sterna bergii cristata Stephens Crested Tern Sterna cristata Stephens, 1826: in G. Shaw, General Zool. 13(1): 146 – China and many of the southeastern islands of Asia, restricted to China (fide Peters 1934, Check-list Birds World 2: 342). Sterna poliocerca Gould, 1837: Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1837 (5): 26 – “in terrâ Van Diemen” = Tasmania, Australia. Sterna rectirostris Peale, 1848: U.S. Expl. Exped. 8: 281, pl. 75, fig. 2 – Fiji Islands. Sterna poliocerca Gould; G.R. Gray 1862, Ibis 4: 249. Thalasseus bergii rectirostris (Peale); Mathews & Iredale 1913, Ibis 1 (10th ser.): 243. Thalasseus bergii cristatus (Stephens); Mathews 1927, Syst. Avium Australasianarum 1: 137. Thalassius [sic] bergii; Marples 1946, New Zealand Bird Notes 1 (Suppl.): 5. Not Sterna bergii Lichtenstein, 1823. Sterna bergii cristata Stephens; Turbott 1952, Rec. Auck. Inst. Museum 4: 189. Sterna bergii poliocerca Gould; Condon 1975, Checklist Birds Australia 1: 156. Sterna bergii; Checklist Committee 1990, Checklist Birds N.Z.: 168. Not Sterna bergii Lichtenstein, 1823.

A vagrant to the New Zealand region: 1910, Kermadec Islands; 1951, Spirits Bay; 1960, Farewell Spit; 1974, Firth of Thames; 1981, Napier; 1981–95, Wellington Harbour and west coast (Higgins & Davies 1996); 1985, Kaikoura (Fennell 1986); 1993, Norfolk Island (Moore 1999); 1995, Manawatu River estuary (Medway 2000a); 1995, Washdyke Lagoon (Canterbury; southernmost record; Medway 2000a); 1995–97, near New Plymouth (Jowett 1997; Medway 1997, 2001a; Medway & Hartley 1998; Hartley 2000; Tennyson & Taylor 2000); and 2002, Wellington Harbour (Howell & Esler 2007).