white plumage; black pointy bill and black eye (Hawaii, USA; 2007-04-05)


Angel Tern
Gygis alba

Native Range: Tropical Oceans

Notes: this beautiful little tern is beautifully named because in flight it looks like a delicate white angel; makes no nest; instead, it lays its egg precariously on a horizontal limb or in the fork of a tree branch, where the hactchling then resides while being fed by its parents.

forked tail (Hawaii, USA; 2007-04-05)
feeding hatchling on a horizontal branch (Hawaii, USA; 2007-04-05)

feeding much older juvenile (Hawaii, USA; 2007-04-05)
perched lengthwise on a limb (Hawaii, USA; 2007-04-05)

beautiful and delicate in flight (Hawaii, USA; 2007-04-05)
a marvelously beautiful creature (Hawaii, USA; 2007-04-05)