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
Bridled tern fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display. Bridled tern The bridled tern ("Onychoprion anaethetus") is a seabird of the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus is "onux", "claw", and "prion", "nail". The specific "anaethetus" means "senseless, stupid". This is a medium-sized tern, at 30–32 cm in length and with a 77–81 cm wingspan similar to the common tern in size, but more heavily built. The wings and deeply forked tail are long, and it has dark grey upperparts and white underparts.