Sternula nereis occurs in
Australia (subspecies
nereis),
New Caledonia (to France) (
exsul) and northern
New Zealand (
davisae). In Australia, subspecies
nereis may number less than 5,000 mature individuals at up to 170 sites, with less than 1,600 pairs in Western Australia, a few hundred pairs in each of Tasmania and South Australia and just a few pairs in Victoria (B. Baker
in litt. 2007, D. Paton
in litt. 2007, A. Burbidge
n litt. 2007, D. Saunders
in litt. 2007). Though it may be stable in Western Australia, numbers elsewhere in Australia have declined rapidly during the last thirty years. In New Zealand,
davisae plummeted to three pairs in 1983 but, due to intensive conservation efforts has increased and in 1998, totalled 25-30 birds and 8-10 pairs over three sites. In 2006 this had increased to 30-40 individuals and 10 pairs (Parrish and Honnor 1997, Taylor 2000, S. Garnett
in litt. 2007). By 2011, this had increased again to 40-45 individuals and c10 pairs (P-J. Pridham
in litt. 2011). In New Caledonia,
exul numbers 100-200 pairs, but was formerly much more abundant (F. Hannecart
per. M. Pandolfi
in litt. 1999, N. Barre
in litt. 2007). One small population in the Southern Lagoon of New Caledonia may be increasing (Baling
et al. 2009).
Rights Holder: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Bibliographic Citation: BirdLife International 2012.
Sternula nereis. In: IUCN 2014 . IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1 . <
www.iucnredlist.org>
