Fairy Tern
A species of Small terns, Also known as Australasian Fairy Tern Scientific name : Sternula nereis Genus : Small terns
Fairy Tern, A species of Small terns
Also known as:
Australasian Fairy Tern
Botanical name: Sternula nereis
Genus: Small terns
Content
Description General Info
Description
The fairy tern is a small tern with a white body and light bluish-grey wings.A small black patch extends no further than the eye and not as far as the bill. In the breeding plumage both the beak and the legs are yellowish-orange. During the rest of the year the black crown is lost, being mostly replaced by white feathers, and the beak becomes black at the tip and the base. The sexes look alike and the plumage of immature birds is similar to the non-breeding plumage. The total length of the fairy tern is about 25 cm (10 in). 
Size
27 cm
Nest Placement
Ground
Feeding Habits
Fairy Tern mainly consume small fish, gastropods, and crustaceans, favoring gobies. They employ plunge-diving and contact-dipping in shallow waters to forage, with juveniles also eating seaweed-based arthropods. Their diet uniquely includes juvenile kahawai otoliths, indicating a diverse prey range.
Habitat
The fairy Tern is typically found in coastal regions, often preferring to breed on sandy or coral islands as well as large coastal dunes. While primarily associated with these coastal environments, it also sometimes ventures inland. Its foraging activities are mostly concentrated in bays and estuaries but may extend beyond the surf line into open waters.
Dite type
Piscivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Behavior
The fairy tern mainly feeds on fish which it catches by hovering over the sea before plunging beak first into the water to grab its prey. It seldom goes far out to sea but is often to be seen where predatory fish are feeding on shoals of small fish. It also consumes crustaceans, molluscs and some plant material. Breeding takes place in the spring in colonies on sheltered beaches on the mainland or on offshore islands. The nest is just above high-water mark and is a scrape in the sand. One or two eggs are laid and both parents share the incubation and care of the chicks and have occasionally been seen providing post-fledging parental care.
Species Status
Formerly classified as a Species of Least Concern by the IUCN, recent research shows that its numbers have been decreasing rapidly throughout its range; the New Zealand subspecies has been on the brink of extinction for decades. The fairy tern was consequently uplisted to Vulnerable status in 2008. The New Zealand fairy tern has numerous breeding areas, largely incorporating the upper-north region of the North Island. In 2011, there were only about 42 known individuals. With a breeding program in place by the New Zealand Department of Conservation, the population was estimated in 2018 at 43.
Scientific Classification
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