Gelochelidon

Gelochelidon is a genus of terns. It was considered a monotypic genus until the Australian tern was split from the gull-billed tern.

Gelochelidon
Australian tern (Gelochelidon macrotarsa)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Laridae
Subfamily:	Sterninae
Genus:	Gelochelidon Brehm, CL, 1830
Type species
Gelochelidon meridionalis[1] = Sterna nilotica Brehm, 1830
Species
See text

Taxonomy

The genus Gelochelidon was introduced in 1830 by the German zoologist Alfred Brehm.^[2] The type species is the gull-billed tern.^[3] The name combines the Ancient Greek gelaō meaning "to laugh" with khelidōn meaning "swallow".^[4]

The genus contains 2 species:^[5]

Genus Gelochelidon – Brehm, CL, 1830 – two species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Gull-billed tern	Gelochelidon nilotica (Gmelin, JF, 1789) Five subspecies G. n. nilotica (Gmelin, 1789) G. n. affinis (Horsfield, 1821) G. n. aranea (Wilson, 1814) G. n. gronvoldi Mathews, 1912	southern Europe, temperate and eastern Asia, both coasts of North America, eastern South America.	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Australian tern	Gelochelidon macrotarsa (Gould, 1837)	Australia and New Guinea.	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC