White Tern

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White Tern

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Sternidae
Genus:	Gygis
Species:	G. alba

Binomial name

Gygis alba
(Sparrman, 1786)

Mating White Terns at Midway Atoll

White Tern feeding a chick at Midway Atoll

The White Tern (Gygis alba) is a small seabird found across the tropical oceans of the world. Sometimes known as the Fairy Tern (but not the Fairy Tern, Sternula nereis), this small tern is famous for laying its egg on bare thin branches in a small fork or depression without a nest. This balancing act is a predator-avoidance behaviour as the branches they choose are too small for rats or even small lizards to climb. Safe from predators, but still vulnerable to strong winds, the White Terns are also quick to relay should they lose the egg. The newly hatched chicks have well developed feet to hang on to their precarious nesting site with. It is a long-lived bird, having been recorded living for 17 years.

The White Tern is a small, all white tern with a long black bill, related to the noddies. It ranges widely across the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and also nests in some Atlantic islands. It nests on coral islands, usually on trees with thin branches but also on rocky ledges and on man-made structures. The White Tern feeds on small fish which it catches by plunge diving.

The White Tern is not considered threatened as it is a wide-spread species with several large colonies around the world.

The White Tern, manu-o-Kū, was named Honolulu, Hawaiʻi's official bird on April 2, 2007.[1]

Chick near nest

[edit] Subspecies

The White Tern has 3-4 subspecies: the nominate race G. a. alba, G. a. leucopes, the Pacific White Tern (G. a. candida). Additionally, the Little White Tern (G. microrhyncha) was long and often is stil lincluded herein as a subspecies G. a. microrhyncha.[2]

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Gygis alba. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern.
Niethammer, K. R., and L. B. Patrick-Castilaw. 1998. White Tern (Gygis alba). in The Birds of North America, No. 371 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.