Spectacled tern Spectacled tern The spectacled tern ("Onychoprion lunatus"), also known as the grey-backed tern, is a seabird in the family Laridae. A close relative of the bridled and sooty terns (with which it is sometimes confused), the spectacled tern is less common than the other members of its genus and it has been studied less. The three species, along with the Aleutian tern were recently split into a new genus "Onychoprion" from "Sterna" (Bridge "et al.", 2005). They resemble the sooty tern but with a grey back instead of a black one. Their breast and underparts are white, and they have
Elegant tern a characteristic loud grating noise like a Sandwich tern. This bird could be confused with the royal tern or Forster's tern, but the royal tern is larger and thicker-billed and shows more white on the forehead in winter. Out of range, it can also be easily confused with the lesser crested tern. See also orange-billed tern, and the external link below. This species is marginally paler above than the lesser crested tern with a white (not grey) rump, with a slightly longer, more slender bill with a different curve. The black of the crest that comes down from the crown