Little white tern | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Laridae |
Genus: | Gygis |
Species: | G. microrhyncha |
Binomial name | |
Gygis microrhyncha Saunders, 1876 | |
The little white tern (Gygis microrhyncha) is a small seabird found in French Polynesia and the Republic of Kiribati. [1] This species was previously considered a subspecies of the white tern (Gygis alba microrhyncha), but is now recognised as a separate species. [2]
The little white tern was first formally described by the British ornithologist Howard Saunders in 1876 under the binomial name Gygis microrhyncha [3] meaning small (micro) bill (rhyncha). There are no 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. [4]
The little white tern is much smaller and has a more slender bill than any subspecies of the common white tern. [5] It has been described as a "compact, goggle-eyed bird with shorter, more rounded wings and less deeply forked tail" when compared to Gygis alba. [4] The calamus or 'quill' of the feather in the little white tern are notably white compared to black calamus found in common white terns. [6]
The little white tern ranges throughout French Polynesia and the Republic of Kiribati, including the Phoenix and Line Islands, [7] and was first described from three specimens from the Marquesas Islands.
Cory's shearwater is a large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It breeds colonially of rocky islands in the eastern Atlantic. Outside the breeding season it ranges widely in the Atlantic. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with Scopoli's shearwater.
The little tern is a seabird of the family Laridae. It was formerly placed into the genus Sterna, which now is restricted to the large white terns. The genus name is a diminutive of Sterna, 'tern'. The specific albifrons is from Latin albus, 'white', and frons, 'forehead'. The former North American and Red Sea S. a. saundersi subspecies are now considered to be separate species, the least tern and Saunders's tern.
The Sandwich tern is a tern in the family Laridae. It is very closely related to the lesser crested tern, Chinese crested tern, Cabot's tern, and elegant tern and has been known to interbreed with the lesser crested. It breeds in the Palearctic from Europe to the Caspian Sea and winters in South Africa, India, and Sri Lanka.
The bridled tern is a seabird of the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus comes from onux meaning "claw" or "nail", and prion, meaning "saw". The specific anaethetus means "senseless, stupid".
The sooty tern is a seabird in the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans, returning to land only to breed on islands throughout the equatorial zone.
Howard Saunders was a British businessman, who later in life became a noted ornithologist, specialising in gulls and terns.
The white tern or common white tern is a small seabird found across the tropical oceans of the world. It is sometimes known as the fairy tern, although this name is potentially confusing as it is also the common name of 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, previously considered a subspecies of the white tern, is now recognised as a separate species.
The painted buttonquail is a species of buttonquail, the family Turnicidae, which resemble, but are unrelated to, the quails of Phasianidae. This species is resident in Australia where numbers are believed to be in decline. A subspecies, the Abrolhos painted buttonquail, is endemic to the Houtman Abrolhos islands.
The Phoenix petrel is a medium-sized tropical seabird, measuring up to 35 cm (1.15 ft) long, with a wingspan of 83 cm (2.72 ft). It has a dark brown upperparts plumage, white below and whitish throat. The sexes are similar.
White terns are species of terns that belong to the genus Gygis. The best known species in the genus is the common white tern. The little white tern, previously considered a subspecies of the white tern, is now recognised as a separate species.
The Polynesian storm petrel is a species of seabird in the family Oceanitidae. It is the only species placed in the genus Nesofregetta.
The blue noddy or hinaokū or manuohina is a seabird in the family Laridae. It is also known as the blue-grey noddy.
Saunders's tern, sometimes known as the black-shafted tern, is a species of bird in the family Laridae. It is sparsely resident along the shores of the north-western Indian Ocean.
The white-capped fruit dove, also called kuku locally, is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It was described by French naturalist and surgeon Adolphe-Simon Neboux in 1840. It is endemic to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. The name honours French admiral and botanist Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars. Two subspecies exist on the islands, Ptilinopus d. dupetithouarsii and Ptilinopus d. viridior.
The chattering kingfisher is a species of bird in the kingfisher family Alcedinidae. The species is found in the Cook Islands and the Society Islands in French Polynesia.
The shrikebills are the monarch flycatcher genus Clytorhynchus. The five species have long laterally compressed bills similar to true shrikes that give them their names. The genus is endemic to the islands of Melanesia and western Polynesia.
The little white tern is a small seabird found in Pacific Ocean. This species was previously considered as the white tern, but is now recognised as a separate species.