page_title: Least tern
section_title: Subspecies
hierarchical_section_title: Least tern / Subspecies
caption_attribution_description: Sternula antillarum English: A Least Tern parent feeding a fish to a small chick near St Augustine, Florida, USA. The adult is in breeding colours.
context_page_description: The least tern is a species of tern that breeds in North America and locally in northern South America. It is closely related to, and was formerly often considered conspecific with, the little tern of the Old World. Other close relatives include the yellow-billed tern and Peruvian tern, both from South America.
  It is a small tern, 22–24 cm long, with a wingspan of 50 cm, and weighing 39–52 g. The upper parts are a fairly uniform pale gray, and the underparts white. The head is white, with a black cap and line through the eye to the base of the bill, and a small white forehead patch above the bill; in winter, the white forehead is more extensive, with a smaller and less sharply defined black cap. The bill is yellow with a small black tip in summer, all blackish in winter. The legs are yellowish. The wings are mostly pale gray, but with conspicuous black markings on their outermost primaries. It flies over water with fast, jerky wingbeats and a distinctive hunchback appearance, with the bill pointing slightly downward.
  It is migratory, wintering in Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. Many spend their whole first year in their wintering area.
context_section_description: The differences among the three subspecies may not be as much as had been thought.
  S. a. athalassos – (Burleigh & Lowery, 1942): Breeds on the rivers of the Arkansas River, Mississippi River, Brazos River, Trinity River, and Rio Grande basins; winters south to northern Brazil.
  S. a. antillarum – (Lesson, 1847): nominate, Breeds on the Atlantic coast of North America, from Maine south along the east and south coasts of the United States, Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Venezuela; winters south to northern Brazil.
  S. a. browni – (Mearns, 1916): California least tern. Breeds on the Pacific coast of North America, from central California south to western Mexico; winters mainly in Central America.
  An unknown subspecies was found in 2012 nesting on the Big Island of Hawaii
caption: Parent feeding a small chick in Florida, USA
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