Fairy tern
| Fairy tern | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fairy Tern ( Gygis alba ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Gygis alba | ||||||||||||
| ( Sparrman , 1786) |
The fairy tern ( Gygis alba ) is a species of bird belonging to the order of the plover-like (Charadriiformes).
description
The fairy tern has white plumage, black eyes and a blue-black beak. The tail is long and forked deep. It grows to about 30 cm tall and has webbed toes.
habitat
It lives in the tropical and subtropical zones of the world's oceans, especially on small islands south of the equator . In the Atlantic Ocean it is native to the islands of Ascension , Trindade and Sankt Helena , in the Indian Ocean to the Seychelles and the Maldives .
nutrition
The birds feed on small fish that they catch from the sea. A bird can carry up to six fish in its beak at the same time in order to bring them ashore and pass them on to its young.
Reproduction
The fairy tern lives monogamous. The breeding season is all year round, the birds do not build a nest. The single egg is simply placed on a fork in a branch or a ledge. Both adult birds incubate the egg very carefully. Once the young hatch, it holds onto itself with its beak and claws.
Web links
- Gygis alba in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2015 Posted by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved on February 2, 2016th
- Many photos
- Information about the fairy tern
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Gygis alba in the Internet Bird Collection