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
Sandwich tern Sandwich tern The Sandwich tern ("Thalasseus sandvicensis") is a tern in the family Laridae. It is very closely related to the lesser crested tern ("T. bengalensis"), Chinese crested tern ("T. bernsteini"), Cabot's tern ("T. acuflavidus"), and elegant tern ("T. elegans") and has been known to interbreed with the lesser crested. The Sandwich tern is a medium-large tern with grey upperparts, white underparts, a yellow-tipped black bill and a shaggy black crest which becomes less extensive in winter with a white crown. Young birds bear grey and brown scalloped plumage on their backs and wings. It is a vocal bird. It