Australian Fairy Tern

SCI Name:  Sternula nereis
Protonym:  Sternula nereis Proc.Zool.Soc.London(1842) (1842), Pt10 no.117 p.140
Taxonomy:  Charadriiformes / Laridae / Sternula
Taxonomy Code:  faiter2
Type Locality:  Bass Strait.
Author:  Gould
Publish Year:  1843
IUCN Status:  Vulnerable

DEFINITIONS

STERNULA
(Laridae; Ϯ Little Tern S. albifrons) Dim. < genus Sterna Linnaeus, 1758, tern; "69. Familie.  Seeschwalben, Sterna.  ...  141. Gattung. Sternula.  361. minuta." (Boie 1822); "Sternula Boie, Isis, 1822, (1), col. 563, Mar., 1822—type, by monotypy, Sterna minuta Linnaeus = Sterna albifrons Pallas." (Hellmayr & Conover 1948, XIII, 301).
Var. Sternulla, Sternella.

STURNELLA
(Icteridae; Ϯ Eastern Meadowlark S. magna) L. sturnellus  little starling  < dim. sturnus  starling. Formerly the American icterids were included with the starlings in Sturnidae (hence the frequent use of Gr. ψαρ psar  starling in icterid genera); "79. STOURNELLE, Sturnella.  Sturnus, Linn. Gm. Lath.  Bec droit, entier, convexe en dessus, obtus et dilaté à la pointe; mandibule supérieure à base prolongée et arrondie dans les plumes du front. — Pouce plus fort et plus long que les doigts latéraux.   Esp. Stourne, ou Merle à fer-à-cheval, Buff." (Vieillot 1816); "Sturnella Vieillot, 1816, Analyse, p. 34. Type, by monotypy, "Stourne, ou Merle à fer-à-cheval" Buffon = Alauda magna Linnaeus." (Blake in Peters 1968, XIV, 177).
Var. Sturnellus, Sternella, Sturela, Sturnela.
Synon. Cirulus, Pedopsaris, Pezites, Trupialis.

nereis
L. nereis, nereidis  nereid, sea-nymph, daughter of the sea-god Nereus (Garrodia, Sternula).

SUBSPECIES

Australian Fairy Tern (horni)
SCI Name: Sternula nereis horni
horni
William Austin Horn (1841-1922) Australian MP, businessman who financed an expedition to central Australia 1894 (subsp. Sternula nereis).

Australian Fairy Tern (nereis)
SCI Name: Sternula nereis nereis
nereis
L. nereis, nereidis  nereid, sea-nymph, daughter of the sea-god Nereus (Garrodia, Sternula).

Australian Fairy Tern (exsul)
SCI Name: Sternula nereis exsul
exsul
L. exsul  exile  < ex  out of; solum  country, land (i.e. remote, isolated, insular).

Australian Fairy Tern (davisae)
SCI Name: Sternula nereis davisae
davisae
Lillian Edwedinah Davis née Ball (fl. 1883) mother of New Zealand business magnate Sir George Francis Davis (Michael Watkins in litt.) (subsp. Sternula nereis).