#1068 · 🐦 birds

Royal Tern

🇳🇱 Koningsstern ·Thalasseus maximus

LCleast concern 🐦 Birds 📍 in Europe, not in NL

8 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Omar Del Toro · CC BY-NC 4.0
2. © Greg Lasley · CC BY-NC 4.0
3. © Alex Castelein · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © Steve Edelstein · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
5. © José Antonio Linage Espinosa · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. © José Antonio Linage Espinosa · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. © Kristin A. Bakkegard · CC BY-NC 4.0
8. © Scott Buckel · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

The royal tern ( Thalasseus maximus ) is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek Thalasseus , "fisherman", from thalassa , "sea". The specific maximus is Latin for '"greatest".

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 47,022iNaturalist observations
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
47,022 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Pieter Boddaert in 1783 (243 years ago).