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
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