Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

Marsh tern

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Order
  
Charadriiformes

Scientific name
  
Chlidonias

Rank
  
Genus

Phylum
  
Chordata

Family
  
Sternidae

Higher classification
  
Tern

Marsh tern birdukraineppuaimagesslideshowChlidonias20h

Lower classifications
  
Black tern, Whiskered tern, White‑winged tern, Black‑fronted tern

Marsh terns poland


The name marsh tern refers to terns of the genus Chlidonias, which are typically found in freshwater marshes, rather than coastal locations. The genus name Chlidonias is from Ancient Greek khelidonios, "swallow-like", from khelidon, "swallow".

There are four species:

  • Black tern, Chlidonias niger (or nigra)
  • White-winged tern or white-winged black tern, Chlidonias leucopterus (or leucoptera)
  • Whiskered tern, Chlidonias hybrida (or hybridus)
  • The Black-fronted tern, Chlidonias albostriatus (formerly Sterna albostriata) is now also recognized to belong to this genus.

    • Notice the hesitation in the gender of the epithet of the scientific names, as they are usually masculine (albostriatus, leucopterus or niger), but in the case of the whiskered tern is mostly used as feminine (hybrida), maybe from the influence of the previous gender used, Sterna.

    The black-bellied tern (Sterna acuticauda) and the white-cheeked tern (Sterna repressa) might also be placed in Chlidonias.

    References

    Marsh tern Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA