Gygis
| White tern | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Laridae |
| Genus: |
Gygis Wagler, 1832 |
| Species: | G. alba |
| Binomial name | |
|
Gygis alba (Sparrman, 1786) |
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The white tern (Gygis alba) is a small seabird found across the tropical oceans of the world. It is sometimes known as the fairy tern although this name is potentially confusing as it is the common name of the fairy tern Sternula nereis. Other names for the species include angel tern and white noddy.
The white tern was first formally described by the Swedish naturalist Anders Sparrman in 1786 under the binomial name Sterna alba. The genus Gygis was introduced by the German zoologist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832. The name Gygis is from the Ancient Greek guges for a mythical bird and the specific alba is Latin for "white".
Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the white tern is more closely related to the noddies than it is to the other terns. This implies that "white noddy" would be a more appropriate English name.
The white tern has the following subspecies:
The subspecies G. a. microrhyncha, the little white tern, is sometimes considered as a separate species, Gygis microrhyncha.
Related to the noddies, the white tern is small with white plumage and a long black bill. With a wingspan of 76–87 cm (30–34 in), it ranges widely across the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and also nests in some Atlantic islands. Nesting on coral islands, usually on trees with small 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 lives in Oceania, from Hawaii to New Zealand; along the coast of China and Vietnam, Indonesia, India, the islands of the Indian Ocean, South Africa, Brazil, Chile and Colombia. Rarely it is also found in Japan, Madagascar, Mexico, and on some islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is a pelagic and epipelagic bird, living along the coast and moving into wooded areas during the breeding season.
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Wikipedia