Sternidae is a term used to describe a family of migratory birds of the charadriiformes order and the Lari suborder. Of the many species in the sternidae family, the auks and the terns are the most widely distributed? Swift, elegant and beautiful are the terms that are mostly used to describe the terns, a species of birds with the longest record of flight of any migratory birds and who also hold the record of the longest life expectancy of a bird, having been known to live for more than twenty years.

The terns are medium sized migratory birds that are mainly grey in color and with grayish-black spots on the head. The color of any species of terns depends on the climatic condition in which they live and the species in which it is part of. A good number of terns have a blue tint to their head spots. The genus sternula consists of species of mainly small terns, which are all white. The sternula genus makes up many of the least terns. The genusOnychoprion consists of terns that are mainly brown in color. The Genus Phaetusa on the other hand is one of the many genera of the tern species, whose species include the large billed tern, the characteristic appearance being the large bill.Ranging in size from 9 inches( the least tern) and 20.5 inches (the Caspian tern), the terns are relatively large birds.

They live in large colonies near water bodies and for this reason they are well adapted to their environment by having webbed feet. Because they often migrate, they are smaller, lighter and more flexible for flight than any other migratory bird, thus enabling it to cover long flight distances. The arctic terns migrate from the freezing arctic to the tropics to breed.

They have narrow and longer wings to reduce wind resistance in flight and enable it to fly higher and faster. The tail of the tern is either divided into two or is singular, depending on the kind of genus the stern belongs. A divided or ‘forked’ tail is a tail whose feathers are the longest at the very extreme ends, while the singular tails or the notched wedge tails are those whose tail feathers are longest in the middle. A tern in the genus procelsterna has what has been described as the notched wedge tails, with the tail feathers being the longest in the middle. A few of the sterns genus have forked tails including the Larosterna and the sterna genus.

A good number of these bird species eat fish and therefore live near the water bodies. They are natural hunters and will migrate according to the migratory patterns of their food that is fish. They are rarely in water, except when they are looking for food. Insect substitute the delicacy of fish and for those terns that feed on insects, they live in marshes and highly vegetated areas, probably moist swampy areas, which attract many insects. They feed on mosquito larvae and flies.