---
title: "Australian Tern"
description: "Gelochelidon macrotarsa — Birds. The Australian tern or Australian gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon macrotarsa) is a tern in the family Laridae, native to Australia."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/australian-tern
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Australian Tern

> Gelochelidon macrotarsa — Birds. The Australian tern or Australian gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon macrotarsa) is a tern in the family Laridae, native to Australia.

- Scientific name: *Gelochelidon macrotarsa*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 2100
- Wikidata: [Q55111914](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55111914)
- iNaturalist taxon: [1505721](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1505721)

## Names

- en: Australian Tern
- de: Australische Lachseeschwalbe
- es: Pagaza australiana
- fr: Sterne à longues pattes

## Countries with the most observations

AU (1931), NZ (78), ID (8)

## Summary

The Australian tern or Australian gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon macrotarsa) is a tern in the family Laridae, native to Australia. The genus name is from Ancient Greek gelao, "to laugh", and khelidon, "swallow".

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_tern

## Photo

![Australian Tern](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/australian-tern/medium.jpg)

Photo: finch_fanatic · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/347213130

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/australian-tern?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).