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Gygis alba

Kākāia

White Tern

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult, Nestling, and egg	42KB
Image:	Adult resting, Inset - with a fish	193KB
Image:	Eggs on branch	135KB
Sound:	Calls near trees	118KB
Video:	Adult landing (© TVNZ)	237KB
Image:	Similar species: 5 different Terns	226KB
Image:	Similar species: 4 different Noddys	235KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: White Tern, Pacific Tern, Love Tern, Fairy Tern; German Feenseeschwalbe

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Kākāia (RR MG AT MK MT TS TW), Piraki (AK), Kakavai (PL MH RK), Kākā (PK NS)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE circumtropical

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native, Resident Breeder; Marine, near-shore - pelagic, nest on Land

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++++	++?	++++	++?	++?	++?	++?	++?	++?

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
++++	++?	++?	++++	++?	++?

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Gygis alba (Sparrman, 1786)
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); TETRAPODA; AVES; NEORNITHES; Charadriiformes; STERNIDAE

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Pukapuka: fieldspecimen, 2/2004, G.McCormack with ID as Gygis alba.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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