Gygis
| Gygis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| White tern | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Sternidae |
| Genus: | Gygis Wagler, 1832 |
| species | |
|
G. alba | |
Gygis is a genus of birds in the tern family. It consists of one species,
- White tern, Gygis alba
- Little white tern, Gygis alba microrhyncha
The little white tern is usually considered to be a subspecies, G. a. microrhyncha, of the white tern.
These are small, all white terns of tropical oceans. They nest on coral islands, usually on trees with thin branches but also on rocky ledges and on man-made structures. They feed on small fish caught by plunge diving.
References
- BirdLife International (2004). "Gygis alba". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2006. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 11 May 2006. .
- Niethammer, K. R., and L. B. Patrick-Castilaw. 1998. White Tern (Gygis alba). in The Birds of North America, No. 371 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to White Tern. |
- White tern videos on the Internet Bird Collection
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.