the white tern is a small seabird found distributed throughout tropical oceans of the world. they are sometimes referred to as the ‘angel tern’ due to their appearance in flight. molecular studies found the species to be more closely related to the shorebirds known as ‘noddies’ rather than other terns. they are proficient divers that feed on a variety of small fish. unlike most other shorebirds, white terns do not build nests, but lay their eggs in a shallow dip; it’s believed that this reduces the transmission of nest parasites, a large threat to colony-nesting birds.
