Fairy tern Fairy tern The fairy tern ("Sternula nereis") is a small tern which is native to the southwestern Pacific. It is listed as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN and the New Zealand subspecies is "Critically Endangered". There are three subspecies: The fairy tern is a small tern with a white body and light bluish-grey wings. The crown and nape is black. It can be distinguished from the little tern in that a black band extends no further than the eye and not as far as the bill. In the breeding plumage both the beak and the legs are yellowish-orange. During the rest
White tern White tern 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"