At 19:23 18/01/99 +1000, Julian Bielewicz wrote:
>Current authorties (eg Christidis & Boles, Harrison, Higgins & Davies,
>Pringle, etc.)refer to the bird in question as White Tern; White Noddy, (as
>also Love Tern, Lover Tern, Common White Tern, Little White Tern, Atlantic
>Tern, Cocos Fairy-Tern, Pacific Tern and White Bird) is an alternative
>suggested by some. Even Pizzey, in his new edition, now conforms with the
>"tern" rather than "noddy" appellation.
I have no problem with White Tern as a name but it is technically a noddy.
on the other hand all noddies are terns. But Gygis alba is very closely
related to the a
Anous Noddies (Lesser, White-Capped and Common). You can see it in the bill
structure, tail shape and the dark brown shafts to the primaries. Its just
a brown noddy that has lost its feather pigment and developed a large eye
for night fishing. The 1-2 Procelsterna species (Grey and maybe Blue
Ternlets) are also clearly noddies. I think the simplest common names for
this group would be White, Blue, Grey, Brown, Black and Lesser Noddies.
David James
PO BOX 5225
Townsville Mail Centre 4810
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