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The little white tern (Gygis microrhyncha) is a small seabird found in French Polynesia and the Republic of Kiribati.[1] This species was previously considered a subspecies of the white tern (Gygis alba microrhyncha), but is now recognised as a separate species.[2]
Taxonomy
The little white tern was first formally described by the British ornithologist Howard Saunders in 1876 under the binomial name Gygis microrhyncha[3] meaning small (micro) bill (rhyncha). There are no recognized subspecies. Some authors have postulated that there may be three species of Gygis:Gygis alba, in the Atlantic Ocean, and Gygis candida and Gygis microrhyncha, both in the Pacific.[4]
Description
The little white tern is much smaller and has a more slender bill than any subspecies of the common white tern.[5] It has been described as a "compact, goggle-eyed bird with shorter, more rounded wings and less deeply forked tail" when compared to Gygis alba.[4] The calamus or 'quill' of the feather in the little white tern are notably white compared to black calamus found in common white terns.[6]
Distribution and habitat
The little white tern ranges throughout French Polynesia and the Republic of Kiribati, including the Phoenix and Line Islands,[7] and was first described from three specimens from the Marquesas Islands.