Great crested tern

Sterne huppée
Tarapapa

The Great Crested Tern is a white bird with a gray back and the top of its head is black. It has a yellow beak and black feet with a wingspan of 99 to 109 cm. The range of this bird generally does not extend more than 1 or 2 km away from shore and it mostly eats small fish, notably the flying fish. These birds reproduce year-round and lay one or two gray eggs that are about 6.1 by 4.1 cm large. The eggs are deposited directly into a small depression in the sand near other Greater Crested Tern nests exclusively on Tahuna iti. The egg is incubated by both the male and female for about 25 days. Once the chicks are aged 15 days, they gather in a single crib and are able to escape danger by swimming. In 2014 there were 20-50 couples estimated in Tetiaroa.