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
Whiskered tern Whiskered tern The whiskered tern ("Chlidonias hybrida") is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek "khelidonios", "swallow-like", from "khelidon", "swallow". The specific "hybridus" is Latin for "hybrid"; Pallas thought it might be a hybrid of white-winged black tern and common tern, writing ""Sterna fissipes ["Chlidonias leucopterus"] et Hirundine ["Sterna hirundo"] natam"”. This bird has a number of geographical races, differing mainly in size and minor plumage details. "C. h. hybrida" breeds in warmer parts of Europe and Asia. The smaller-billed and darker "C. h. delalandii" is found in east and south Africa, and the