It resembles a plover but with very long grey legs and a strong heavy black bill similar to a tern. It has black-and-white plumage, a long neck, partially webbed feet and a bill designed for eating crabs. Crab-plover, nandu thinni Coursers and pratincoles Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Glareolidae Glareolidae is a family of wading birds comprising the pratincoles, which have short legs, long pointed wings and long forked tails, and the coursers, which have long legs, short wings and long, pointed bills which curve downwards. Indian courser, kal kuruvi Collared pratincole, karuvalaya tholkuruvi Oriental pratincole Small pratincole, chinna tholkuruvi Gulls, terns, and skimmers Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Laridae Laridae is a family of both gulls and terns. Gulls are medium to large seabirds including kittiwakes. They are typically grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have stout, longish bills and webbed feet. Terns are a group of generally medium to large seabirds typically with grey or white plumage, often with black markings on the head. Most terns hunt fish by diving but some pick insects off the surface of fresh water. Terns are generally long-lived birds, with several species known to live in excess of 30 years. Brown noddy Lesser noddy Indian skimmer Slender-billed gull (A) Brown-headed gull, pazhuppu thalai kadal kakkai Black-headed gull, karunthalai kadal kakkai Pallas's gull Sooty gull (A) Lesser black-backed gull Gull-billed tern, parutha alagu aala Caspian tern Greater crested tern Lesser crested tern, kondai aala Sandwich tern Little tern Saunders's tern Bridled tern Sooty tern River tern, aatru aala Roseate tern Common tern, aala Black-bellied tern, karuppu vayitru aala Whiskered tern, meesai aala White-winged tern (A) Skuas Order: CharadriiformesFamily: Stercorariidae The family Stercorariidae are, in general, medium to large birds, typically with grey or brown plumage, often with white markings on the wings. They nest on the ground in temperate and arctic regions and are long-distance migrants. South polar skua (A) Brown skua (A) Pomarine jaeger Parasitic jaeger Long-tailed jaeger (A) Tropicbirds Order: PhaethontiformesFamily: Phaethontidae Tropicbirds are slender white birds of tropical oceans, with exceptionally long central tail feathers. Their heads and long wings have black markings. White-tailed tropicbird Austral storm petrels Order: ProcellariiformesFamily: Oceanitidae The austral storm petrels are relatives of the petrels and are the smallest seabirds. They feed on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering. The flight is fluttering and sometimes bat-like. Wilson's storm