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
Sooty tern as "manutara". The "manutara" played an important role in the "tangata manu" ("birdman") ritual: whichever "hopu" (champion) could retrieve the first "manutara" egg from Motu Nui islet would become that year's "tangata manu"; his clan would receive prime access to resources, especially seabird eggs. Sooty tern The sooty tern ("Onychoprion fuscatus") is a seabird in the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans, breeding on islands throughout the equatorial zone. The sooty tern was described by Linnaeus in 1766 as "Sterna fuscata", bearing this name for many years until the genus "Sterna" was split up. It is