Tern make up the clutch. Most species feed on fish caught by diving from flight, but the marsh terns are insect-eaters, and some large terns will supplement their diet with small land vertebrates. Many terns are long-distance migrants, and the Arctic tern may see more daylight in a year than any other animal. Terns are long-lived birds and are relatively free from natural predators and parasites; most species are declining in numbers due directly or indirectly to human activities, including habitat loss, pollution, disturbance, and predation by introduced mammals. The Chinese crested tern is in a critical situation and three other
Roseate tern Roseate tern The roseate tern ("Sterna dougallii") is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name "Sterna" is derived from Old English "stearn", "tern", and the specific "dougallii" refers to Scottish physician and collector Dr Peter McDougall (1777–1814). "Roseate" refers to the bird's pink breast in breeding plumage. English naturalist George Montagu described the roseate tern in 1813. Genetically, it is most closely related to the white-fronted tern ("S. striata"), with their common ancestor a sister lineage to the black-naped tern ("S. sumatrana"). This species has a number of geographical races, differing mainly in bill colour and minor plumage