Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Thalasseus maximus
Gaviotín Real, Royal Tern
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Charadriiformes
Family
Laridae
Genus
Thalasseus
Species
maximus
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn. Sterna maxima Boddaert, 1783
Origin: Migrant
Distribution: Puerto Villamil, Isabela (personal observation). The majority of records seem to be from southern Isabela, at Puerto Villamil and Quinta Playa, but other locations include Santa Cruz (Castro and Phillips 1996).)
- Freile, J.F. Santander, T., Jiménez-Uzcátegui, G., Carrasco, L., Cisneros-Heredia, D., Guevara, E., Sánchez-Nivicela, M., Tinoco, B. (2019) Lista Roja de las aves del Ecuador Quito, Ecuador. 97 pp.
- Hickin, N. (1979) Animal life of the Galapagos. Ferundune Books, Faringdon, U.K., 236 pp.
- Wiedenfeld, D.A. (2006) Aves, the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Check List 2006 2(2): 1-27.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Thalasseus maximus", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=5189. Accessed 2 November 2026.