Fairy tern of extinction for decades. The fairy tern was consequently uplisted to Vulnerable status in 2008. The New Zealand fairy tern has numerous breeding areas, largely incorporating the upper-north region of the North Island. In 2011, there were only about 42 known individuals. With a breeding program in place by the New Zealand Department of Conservation, the population was estimated in 2018 at 43. Fairy tern The fairy tern ("Sternula nereis") is a small tern which is native to the southwestern Pacific. It is listed as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN and the New Zealand subspecies is "Critically Endangered". There are three
Arctic tern of its range. The Arctic tern was known as sea swallow describing their slender shape as they swoop over the water. The genus name "Sterna" is derived from Old English "stearn", "tern". The specific "paradisaea" is from Late Latin "paradisus", "paradise". The Scots names "picktarnie", "tarrock" and their many variants are also believed to be onomatopoeic, derived from the distinctive call. Due to the difficulty in distinguishing the two species, all the informal common names are shared with the common tern. The Arctic tern has a continuous worldwide circumpolar breeding distribution; there are no recognized subspecies. It can be found