Rare White Tern spotted in St Croix, marking 2nd ever sighting in West Indies

US Virgin Islands: In a rare sighting, the Executive Director of the St. Croix Environmental Association Jennifer Valiulis spotted a White Tern bird in US Virgin Islands’ St Croix while she was on a sea turtle track patrol.

According to the information, this rare bird which has been spotted for the 2nd time ever in the West Indies was seen at Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge, St. Croix on August 11, 2024. Usually found in the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Hawaii, this rare visitor to the Caribbean caused a stir and spreaded its wings in the tropical paradise.

As Valiulis saw the White Tern, she immediately took out her phone and clicked its pictures, ensuring that she captured this once-in-a-lifetime sighting.

This discovery is being seen as remarkable for the Caribbean region as a whole and underscored the utmost importance of the Caribbean protected areas such as Sandy point in providing sanctuary for lost and exhausted bird species. 

While sharing the development on her official Facebook account, the Executive Director outlined, “I got super lucky and saw an extremely rare (for the region) White Tern at the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge. It’s a beautiful little bird and this was only the second documented sighting in the West Indies!”

Jennifer talked about the moment and said that it took her long enough to really notice the tern because it was hovering over her dog in a way that was unusual to her as it just floated over the dog following them on the beach.

She further added that initially she though it was a Least Tern as she had seen hundreds of them earlier in the morning at the refugee, but as she looked closer, she realised that she was incorrect and took its pictures, thinking that she could examine it later. 

When she got home, she started looking for the bird and struggled to find any local species which matched with the photos she took. 

Jennifer captured a series of photos of the mysterious bird which was entirely white with large, striking black eyes and a black bill. 

As she consulted the ornithologists the sighting was confirmed to be that of a White Tern, a bird typically found in the Pacific Ocean and only ever seen once in the West Indies back in 2010. 

It is being believed that this single bird could have been blown off course during a storm or with strong winds following which it got lost and arrived in the US Virgin Islands.