---
title: "Koningsstern"
description: "Thalasseus maximus — Vogels. The royal tern (Thalasseus maximus) is a tern in the family Laridae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/royal-tern
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Koningsstern

> Thalasseus maximus — Vogels. The royal tern (Thalasseus maximus) is a tern in the family Laridae.

- Scientific name: *Thalasseus maximus*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `sea` (Zee en kust)
- iNaturalist observations: 45942
- Wikidata: [Q28423](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28423)
- iNaturalist taxon: [144539](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/144539)

## Names

- en: Royal Tern
- de: Königsseeschwalbe
- es: Charrán Real
- fr: Sterne royale
- nl: Koningsstern
- pt: Garajau-real
- pl: Rybitwa królewska

## Countries with the most observations

US (30332), MX (6210), CR (892), PR (488), BR (465), PA (381), CU (348), AR (325), DO (301), CO (282), NI (255), HN (250)

## Summary

The royal tern (Thalasseus maximus) is a tern in the family Laridae. The species is endemic to the Americas, though vagrants have been identified in Europe.

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

## Photo

![Koningsstern](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/royal-tern/medium.jpg)

Photo: Chrissy McClarren and Andy Reago · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/87062198

## Machine access

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