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Afghanistan,Albania,Algeria,Angola,Argentina,Armenia,Australia,Austria,Azerbaijan,Bahrain, Bangladesh,Belarus,Belgium,Belize,Benin,Bermuda,Bhutan,Bolivia,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Brazil, British Virgin Islands,Bulgaria,Burundi,Cambodia,Cameroon,Canada,Cape Verde,Chile,China,Colombia, Comoros,Congo,Cook Islands,Costa Rica,Croatia,Cyprus,Czech Republic,Democratic Republic of Congo,Denmark,Djibouti, Dominican Republic,Ecuador - Galapagos Islands,Ecuador - mainland,Egypt,El Salvador,Equatorial Guinea,Eritrea,Estonia,Ethiopia,Finland, France,French Guiana,Gabon,Gambia,Georgia,Germany,Ghana,Gibraltar,Greece,Guam, Guatemala,Guinea,Guinea-Bissau,Guyana,Haiti,Honduras,Hong Kong,Hungary,India - mainland,Indonesia, Iran,Iraq,Ireland,Israel,Italy,Ivory Coast,Japan,Jordan,Kazakhstan,Kenya, Kuwait,Kyrgyzstan,Latvia,Lebanon,Liberia,Libya,Liechtenstein,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Macedonia, Madagascar,Malaysia,Maldives,Mali,Marshall Islands,Mauritania,Mexico,Micronesia,Moldova,Monaco, Mongolia,Montenegro,Morocco,Mozambique,Myanmar,Namibia,Nepal,Netherlands,Netherlands Antilles,Nicaragua, Nigeria,North Korea,Northern Mariana Islands,Norway,Oman,Pakistan,Palau,Palestine,Panama,Papua New Guinea, Peru,Philippines,Poland,Portugal,Puerto Rico,Qatar,Romania,Russia,Saudi Arabia,Senegal, Serbia,Seychelles,Sierra Leone,Singapore,Slovakia,Slovenia,Solomon Islands,Somalia,South Africa,South Korea, South Sudan,Spain,Sri Lanka,Sudan,Suriname,Sweden,Switzerland,Syria,Taiwan,Tajikistan, Tanzania,Thailand,Togo,Trinidad and Tobago,Tunisia,Turkey,Turkmenistan,Uganda,Ukraine,United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom,United States - mainland,Uzbekistan,Vanuatu,Venezuela,Vietnam,Western Sahara,Yemen,Zambia,
IOC 13.1 Subspecies
Group
Subspecies
Breeding Range
hirundo
Azores, Madeira and Canary Is. (Macaronesia, w of nw Africa); Tunisia (n Africa), Mauritania and Senegal (w Africa); inland Europe (except Arctic) to nw Siberia and w China; inland Northwest Territories to Montana, James Bay and se Canada and New England,
tibetana
c Asia to Xinjiang (w China) e to nw Inner Mongolia, s through Tibetan Plateau from e Ladakh to Qinghai
minussensis
c, s Siberia s to Transbaikalia, s Russian Altai and sc Mongolia
longipennis
ne Siberia s to Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Ussuriland and e Mongolia to ne China
In breeding plumage looks like a [Forster's Tern], with black cap and orange and black bill. Look for black in the wings on the Common Tern, seen on some tips here. The Common Tern has a black bill in non-breeding plumage, and unlike other terns is often far out at sea, and not on the beach.
Africa (entire continent rather than south of Sahara)
AN
Antarctica
AO
Atlantic Ocean
AU
Australasia (Wallacea (Indonesian islands east of Wallace's line), New Guinea and its islands, Australia, New Zealand and its subantarctic islands, the Solomons, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu)
PAL
Eurasia (Europe, Asia from the Middle East through central Asia north of the Himalayas, Siberia and northern China to Japan)
IO
Indian Ocean
LA
Latin America (Middle and South America)
MA
Middle America (Mexico through Panama)
NA
North America (includes the Caribbean)
NO
Northern oceans
OR
Oriental Region (South Asia from Pakistan to Taiwan, plus Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and Greater Sundas)
