Tern sea terns have light grey or white body plumage as adults, with a black cap to the head. The legs and bill are various combinations of red, orange, yellow, or black depending on species. The pale plumage is conspicuous from a distance at sea, and may attract other birds to a good feeding area for these fish-eating species. When seen against the sky, the white underparts also help to hide the hunting bird from its intended prey. The Inca tern has mainly dark plumage, and three species that mainly eat insects, the black tern, white-winged tern, and black-bellied tern, have
Little tern Little tern The little tern ("Sternula albifrons") is a seabird of the family Sternidae. It was formerly placed into the genus "Sterna", which now is restricted to the large white terns. The genus name is a diminutive of "Sterna", "tern". The specific "albifrons" is from Latin "albus", "white", and "frons", "forehead". The former North American ("S. a. antillarum") and Red Sea "S. a. saundersi" subspecies are now considered to be separate species, the least tern ("Sternula antillarum") and Saunders's tern ("Sternula saundersi"). This bird breeds on the coasts and inland waterways of temperate and tropical Europe and Asia. It is