Sternula nereis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The fairy tern (Sternula nereis) is a small tern which is native to the southwestern Pacific. It is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN and the New Zealand subspecies is critically endangered. Fairy terns live in colonies along the coastlines and estuaries of Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia, feeding largely on small, epipelagic schooling fishes, breeding in areas close to their feeding sites. They have a monogamous mating system, forming breeding pairs in which they mate, nest, and care for offspring.
There are three subspecies: Australian fairy tern, Sternula nereis nereis (Gould, 1843) – breeds in Australia New Caledonian fairy tern, Sternula nereis exsul (Mathews, 1912) – breeds in New Caledonia New Zealand fairy tern / Tara iti, Sternula nereis davisae (Mathews & Iredale, 1913) – breeds in northern New Zealand
The three subspecies are distinguished by geographical range, and slight morphological differences. Gene flow between subspecies is little to none. The fairy tern is a small tern with a white body and light bluish-grey wings. A small black patch extends no further than the eye and not as far as the bill. In the breeding plumage both the beak and the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rottnest Island | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Cape Range | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Fairy Tern sighting in Cape Range on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 59th most-seen of the 84 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April, July–September and November–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Fairy Tern in Cape Range on a given day, against under 5% in March, May–June and October, the lowest months. February has too few records to rate.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Fairy Tern sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Fairy Tern sightings, Cape Range ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Rottnest Island (Australia, about 50%) and Ningaloo Marine Park (Australia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Fairy Tern is recorded against all the birds logged in Cape Range (16 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
