White tern

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White tern
A white tern on the French Frigate Shoals

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae
Genus: Gygis
Species:
G. alba
Binomial name
Gygis alba
(Sparrman, 1786)

The white tern or common white tern (Gygis alba) is a small

Sternula nereis. Other names for the species include angel tern and white noddy in English, and manu-o-Kū in Hawaiian. The little white tern (Gygis microrhyncha), previously considered a subspecies of the white tern (Gygis alba microrhyncha), is now recognised as a separate species.[3]

Taxonomy

The white tern was first formally described by the Swedish naturalist Anders Sparrman in 1786 under the binomial name Sterna alba.[4] The genus Gygis was introduced by the German zoologist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832.[5] The name Gygis is from the Ancient Greek guges for a mythical bird and the specific alba is Latin for "white".[6]

noddies than it is to the other terns.[7] This implies that "white noddy" would be a more appropriate English name.[8]

The white tern has the following recognized subspecies:

Some authors have postulated that there may be three species of Gygis: Gygis alba, in the Atlantic Ocean, and Gygis candida and Gygis microrhyncha, both in the Pacific.[12]

Description

The white tern has a wingspan of 76–87 cm (30–34 in).[13] It has white plumage and a long black bill.[14] Nesting on coral islands, usually on trees with small branches but also on rocky ledges and on man-made structures, the white tern feeds on small fish which it catches by plunge diving. Giant tortoises have been observed to hunt the bird on Fregate Island in the Seychelles.[15]

Distribution and habitat

The white tern ranges widely across the Pacific Ocean from the coasts of Chile and Colombia to New Zealand and along the eastern and southern coasts of Asia from China to India, South Maldives, the islands of the Indian Ocean, and the coast of South Africa.

epipelagic
bird, living along the coast and moving into wooded areas during the breeding season.

  • Fairy or white tern baby, Midway Island
    Fairy or white tern baby, Midway Island
  • White tern parents near their chick, in Cousin Island, Seychelles.
    White tern parents near their chick, in Cousin Island, Seychelles.
  • Gygis alba - MHNT
    Gygis alba -
    MHNT

Behavior

This species is notable for laying its

parasites, which in some colonial seabirds can cause the abandonment of an entire colony.[16] In spite of these benefits there are costs associated with tree nesting, as the eggs and chicks are vulnerable to becoming dislodged by heavy winds. For this reason the white tern is also quick to relay should it lose the egg. The newly hatched chicks have well developed feet with which to hang on to their precarious nesting site. It is a long-lived bird, having been recorded living for 42[17]
years.

Relationship with humans

The white tern, manu-o-Kū, was named

Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
's official bird on April 2, 2007.

New Zealand's Department of Conservation classifies the white tern as Nationally Critical, with populations having been largely decimated by the introduction of feral cats and rats on Raoul Island, the terns' only breeding site in the country.[18] As of 2016, the white tern population in New Zealand was reported to be increasing following the eradication of introduced predators in 2002.[18][19] Globally, the white tern has a large range that is home to several large colonies, and both recognised species are listed as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List.

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22694821A132576063.en
    . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Common White Tern (Gygis alba) - BirdLife species factsheet". datazone.birdlife.org. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  3. ^ del Hoyo, J; Collar, N.J.; Christie, D.A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L.D.C. (2014). HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.: Lynx Edicions BirdLife International.
  4. ^ Sparrman, Anders (1786–1789). Museum Carlsonianum, in quo novas et selectas aves, coloribus ad vivum brevique descriptiones illustratas (in Latin). Vol. fasc. 1. Holmiae: Ex Typographia Regia. Plate 11.
  5. ^ Wagler, Johann Georg (1832). "Neue Cippen und Gattugen der Caugthiere und Vögel". Isis von Oken (in German and Latin). Column 1223.
  6. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  7. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0606erratum
    .
  8. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Noddies, gulls, terns, auks". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Gygis alba alba (Common White-Tern (Atlantic)) - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  10. ^ "Gygis alba candida (Common White-Tern (Pacific)) - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  11. ^ "Gygis alba leucopes (Common White-Tern (leucopes)) - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  12. doi:10.25226/bboc.v140i2.2020.a10
    .
  13. ^ Gochfeld, M.; Burger, J.; Christie, D.A.; Kirwan, G.M. "Common White Tern (Gygis alba)". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  14. doi:10.2173/bna.371
  15. PMID 34428417
    .
  16. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1979.tb05023.x
    .
  17. ^ Hawaii’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy October 1, 2005
  18. ^
    OCLC 770307954.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  19. OCLC 993614035.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to White tern.
Wikispecies has information related to Gygis alba.
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