saunders's tern Sternula saundersi

Tiny, pale coastal tern. Has a yellow bill and neat black head markings in breeding plumage, and a dark bill and messier head markings in non-breeding plumage. Found on coastal sand bars and mudflats, and sometimes on the open ocean. Extremely similar to Little Tern. In breeding plumage, Saunders’s Tern can be identified by the fact that the small white patch on its forehead is squared off and doesn’t extend behind the eye. In non-breeding plumage, the two species may be indistinguishable.