May bird of the month: Little Tern

5 facts about Little Terns

Four amazing facts, and one we wish wasn’t true. Meet Australia’s newest threatened bird species, the Little Tern.

1. They’re Australia’s smallest tern species

At just 20–28 cm long, the Little Tern is the smallest of Australia’s terns.

Australia is home to two subspecies of Little Tern: the Tasman Little Tern and Indo-Pacific Little Tern.

Tasman Little Terns breed in south-eastern Australia. Some Indo-Pacific Little Terns nest in coastal northern Australia, while another population travels thousands of kilometres from their breeding grounds in north-east Asia to spend the warmer months on Australia’s northern and eastern coasts.

These tiny, delicate seabirds are often confused with the closely-related Fairy Tern – but Little Terns are slightly smaller and more slender in appearance, with longer legs, a darker back and wings. In breeding plumage, Little Terns have a sharper, pointed white brow and a thin black stripe between their eye and bill. Little and Fairy terns will often roost and feed together in large, noisy flocks and are known to interbreed.

2. They’re aerial acrobats

In Australia, Little Terns are found in sheltered coastal habitats including lagoons, lakes, estuaries, river mouths, bays, harbours and inlets. They’re also found along open coasts and islands, and roost on the exposed sand of spits, banks and ocean beaches.

Their aerial acrobatics are a sight to behold as they hunt over shallow waters, fluttering on rapidly beating wings before plunging headfirst after fish and crustaceans.

In courtship, they also take to the air – chasing and circling each other to dizzying heights before plunging to the ground. Sometimes the male will also present a fish to his prospective mate, strutting around her with his neck outstretched.

3. Their nests are almost invisible

If their courtship is successful, the pair will march around on the beach assessing potential nest sites – a behaviour known as prospecting. They will continue digging and testing out scrapes in the sand until they find a suitable spot.

While many seabirds nest on cliffs and offshore islands, most tern species have little to no nest and lay their eggs directly onto bare ground. Like other beach-nesting birds, Little Terns lay their eggs in a shallow scrape of sand above the high-tide line. Their nests are sometimes lined with small shells, stones, twigs, vegetation and coral fragments, and placed close to driftwood and seaweed.

Their speckled eggs and chicks are so well-camouflaged among the sand and gravel they’re near invisible – and easily overlooked by beachgoers. While this is a great defence against predators, it means their nests are especially vulnerable to human disturbance: one of the greatest threats to their breeding success.

4. They have their own childcare system

On average, it takes three weeks for eggs to hatch and another three weeks until Little Tern chicks can fly. During this time, these tiny, downy chicks are at their most vulnerable and depend on their parents for food and protection. One parent will remain with its chick at all times, while the other hunts for food.

Soon after hatching, chicks will hide under nearby vegetation or debris. If disturbed, they freeze – squatting motionless with their legs and head folded under their body to evade detection.

After just 5 days, Little Tern chicks can already run and hide from predators and are known as ‘runners’. While learning to fly, older chicks leave their nest sites and form large flocks known as crèches. Here, they wait by the shoreline for their parents to return with food, while other parents and non-breeding birds stand guard. This clever childcare system benefits both chicks and their parents – reducing the risk of predation, while allowing adult birds more time for foraging. Later, the fledglings will join the flock of adult birds.

5. They’re Australia’s newest threatened bird species

Already classified as threatened under state and territory legislation (Critically Endangered in Victoria and Endangered in NSW), in March, the Little Tern became the first bird species to be added to Australia’s threatened species list in 2025. They’re now listed as nationally Vulnerable to extinction under Australia’s main national environment legislation, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.

Nesting on the ground means Little Terns face many threats – and high rates of breeding and nesting failure.

Their breeding season coincides with peak tourist season, when nesting birds must compete with surging numbers of beach visitors. If their eggs aren’t trampled underfoot or crushed by off-road vehicles, their tiny, flightless chicks must survive predation by unleashed dogs and native and introduced predators until they’re old enough to fledge. And when people get too close, nesting birds become agitated and take flight – leaving their eggs and chicks exposed and vulnerable to predation and overheating.

The more popular our beaches are, the more pressure beach-nesting birds like Little Terns are under – and significant or ongoing disturbance can cause colonies to abandon a nest site entirely.

Little Terns are threatened by:

• Disturbance and destruction of nest sites by humans, off-leash dogs, vehicles, horses, boats and jet skis. Chicks and adult birds can also be killed by off-road vehicles, including 4WDs and quad bikes.
• Predation by introduced and native predators, including foxes, cats, dogs, goannas and birds (such as gulls, ravens, magpies and birds of prey).
• Inundation of nest sites by king tides, storm and flood events and rising sea levels.
• Loss of critical habitat caused by coastal development, inappropriate sand and water management.
• Habitat degradation caused by invasive weeds and erosion.
• The impacts of climate change including higher tides, rising sea levels, more frequent storms and more intense tropical cyclones.
• Pollution and overfishing, and the risks of entanglement and ingesting plastics and fishing gear

Sadly, many Little Tern chicks don’t survive to adulthood: at some colonies in eastern Australia, just 6.5–17.9% of eggs will make it to fledgling stage. But targeted conservation efforts at Little Tern breeding colonies across Australia are helping tern this tide – including the work of BirdLife Australia’s Wetland and Coastal Birds team.