Laura Erickson’s For the Birds

This ethereal seabird is found across the tropical oceans of the world. It does not build a nest, but lays and incubates its single egg on a branch or tree crotch. Chicks hatch out with sturdy gripping toes to survive.

In 2025, the American Ornithological Society split the White Tern into three different species. The only one I’ve seen–the one that nests in Hawaii–is now called the Blue-billed White-Tern.