Astonishing and ethereal, these terns are famous for laying a single egg on a bare tree branch. After the young fledge, they return to tree branches to be fed by the adults. We saw two adults periodically feeding another adult-like bird perched on a branch, presumably an immature. Geographic variation unclear. Birds in Melanesia and other islands of South Pacific sometimes recognized as G. a. pacifica, but here merged into G. a. candida which ranges from Hawaii to the Indian Ocean. It is characterized by bluish bill base and dark primary shafts, both visible here
