ThalasseusW
Thalasseus

Thalasseus, the crested terns, is a genus of eight species of terns in the family Laridae.

Cabot's ternW
Cabot's tern

Cabot's tern is a tern in the family Laridae formerly considered as a subspecies of the Sandwich tern. It has since been shown to be more closely related to the elegant tern. The genus name is from Ancient Greek Thalasseus, "fisherman" from thalassa, "sea". The specific acuflavida is Latin from acus, "needle", and flavidus, "yellowish". The IOC recognizes the bird as distinct, but most other taxonomists, including both committees of the AOU, consider it conspecific with the Sandwich tern.

Chinese crested ternW
Chinese crested tern

The Chinese crested tern is a tern in the family Laridae, closely related to the Sandwich tern, T. sandvicensis, and the lesser crested tern, T. bengalensis. It is most similar to the former, differing only in the bill pattern, which is the reverse of the Sandwich tern's, being yellow with a black tip. From the lesser crested tern, which it overlaps in wintering distribution, it can be told by the white rump and paler grey mantle, as well as the black tip to the bill, which seen from up close also has a white point. The larger greater crested tern is also similar, differing in its stouter, all-yellow bill and darker grey mantle and rump, as well as in size.

Elegant ternW
Elegant tern

The elegant tern is a tern in the family Laridae. It breeds on the Pacific coasts of the southern United States and Mexico and winters south to Peru, Ecuador and Chile.

Greater crested ternW
Greater crested tern

The greater crested tern, also called crested tern or swift tern, is a tern in the family Laridae that nests in dense colonies on coastlines and islands in the tropical and subtropical Old World. Its five subspecies breed in the area from South Africa around the Indian Ocean to the central Pacific and Australia, all populations dispersing widely from the breeding range after nesting. This large tern is closely related to the royal and lesser crested terns, but can be distinguished by its size and bill colour.

Lesser crested ternW
Lesser crested tern

The lesser crested tern is a tern in the family, Laridae.

Royal ternW
Royal tern

The royal tern is a tern in the family Laridae.

Sandwich ternW
Sandwich tern

The Sandwich tern is a tern in the family Laridae. It is very closely related to the lesser crested tern, Chinese crested tern, Cabot's tern, and elegant tern and has been known to interbreed with the lesser crested. It breeds in the Palearctic from Europe to the Caspian Sea wintering to South Africa, India and Sri Lanka.

West African crested ternW
West African crested tern

The West African crested tern is a bird species in the family Laridae.