#gygis

[herpsandbirds]

could i have some manu-o-Kū/white tern pictures please? i just found out about them and i love how pointy their beaks are

I think I have a few tern friends for you...

Manu-o-Kū or White Tern (Gygis alba), family Laridae, order Charadriiformes, Hawaii

photograph by Eric VanderWerf

Manu-o-Kū or White Tern (Gygis alba), family Laridae, order Charadriiformes, Hawaii

photograph by WeedManDan

Manu-o-Kū or White Tern (Gygis alba), EAT A TASTY FISH!!!, family Laridae, order Charadriiformes, Hawaii

photograph by Mark Sullivan | NOAA

[best-bird-tournament]

White terns (subfamily Gyginae, genus Gygis)

Which is the best bird?

White tern

Little white tern

Voting ended onOct 2, 2025

This genus, with only two species, is monotypic in its subfamily.

[birdblues]

White Tern

[dendroica]

White Tern (Manu o Ku, Gygis alba) (via USFWS - Pacific Region)

Photo Credit: Brian Peck/USFWS

Rose Atoll is located approximately 130 nautical miles east-southeast of Pago Pago Harbor, American Samoa, and is the easternmost Samoan island and the only atoll in the Samoan Archipelago. It is the southernmost unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System and shares the distinction with Jarvis Island of being the only National Wildlife Refuges located south of the equator.

Rose Atoll is nearly square, with the ocean-side slopes about 1 mile in length. It is one of the smallest atolls in the world, consisting of two low sandy islets, Rose and Sand. Each is located on a coralline algal reef rim enclosing a lagoon. A single, natural pass with a minimum depth of 8 to 48 feet deep links the lagoon to the sea. The lagoon is a maximum of 1.2 miles wide and up to about 65 feet deep, and includes 1,575 acres. Rose and Sand Islands cover areas of about 14 and 7 acres respectively.

For more info, please visit: www.fws.gov/roseatoll/index.html

[dendroica]

The White Tern is one of 19 bird species found on Midway Atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. (via CNN)

[libutron]

Common White Tern - Gygis alba

Also referred to as Fairy Tern, the Common White Tern has a lovely scientific name, Gygis alba (Charadriiformes - Laridae), which refers to its immaculate all-white plumage.

The Common White Tern has a distribution across the tropics of the world, being found year-round on islands in the south Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the western and central Pacific. It is also a seasonal visitor to islands in the south-central and eastern Pacific off the coast of Mexico.

References: [1] - [2] - [3]

Photo credit: ©Mathieu Sarlat | Locality: Seychelles (2010)