What’s in a name? Meet the Blue-billed White tern

You may start seeing the White Tern referred to by a new common name: the Blue-billed White-Tern — a name that highlights one of this graceful bird’s most distinctive features.

This update comes from the North American Classification Committee (NACC), which recently adopted several changes based on new genetic, morphological, and behavioral research. As part of a proposal led by H. Douglas Pratt and Eric VanderWerf, with contributions from the late Storrs Olson, the subfamily relationships within the tern family (Laridae) have been revised:

🔹 The genus Gygis (white terns) — once grouped with all other terns in the subfamily Sterninae — has now been moved into its own subfamily: Gyginae.

🔹 The familiar Gygis alba, formerly called simply the White Tern, is now officially the Blue-billed White-Tern.

🔹 In addition, G. candida (Blue-billed), G. microrhyncha (Little), and G. alba (Atlantic) are now treated as three separate species based on differences in morphology, vocalizations, and even archaeological evidence of historical overlap.

🌺 Here in Hawaiʻi, of course, we’ll continue to affectionately refer to our birds as the Manu o Kū — or simply, the White Tern. But it’s good to know the science behind their evolving story.

Mahalo to the many researchers and citizen scientists who contribute to our growing understanding of this extraordinary species. And Mahalo to Eric VanderWerf for the photo below showing the distinctive blue coloration at the base of the bill leading to its new name.