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
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