Sternidae

Buabua ni ndege wa familia Sternidae. Watu wengi huita ndege hawa shakwe kama spishi za familia Laridae. Wengine hutumia jina buabua kwa spishi za jenasi Anous na Chlidonias. Spishi za jenasi Gygis ni nyeupe kabisa, zile za Sterna ni nyeupe na zina utosi weusi; spishi nyingi zina madoa meusi kwa mabawa pia. Spishi za Chlidonias zina zaidi ya rangi nyeusi, hata kwa mwili wao, na spishi za Anous zina rangi nyeupe chache tu. Buabua wana domo refu kadiri lenye ncha kali. Wanaweza kuogelea na wana ngozi kati ya vidole vyao.

Kama shakwe, buabua huhusiswha na pwani, lakini spishi nyingi wanatokea mbali na bahari, kwa kawaida karibu na maji. Huwakamata samaki wakipiga mbizi, lakini spishi za Chlidonias huwakamata wadudu pia kutoka juu ya maji baridi. Hulitengeneza tago lao chini, mara nyingi kisiwani.

Spishi za Afrika

• Anous minutus, Buabua Mweusi (Black Noddy)
• Anous stolidus, Buabua Kahawia (Brown Noddy)
• Anous tenuirostris, Buabua Domo-jembamba (Lesser Noddy)
• Chlidonias hybridus, Buabua Masharubu (Whiskered Tern)
• Chlidonias leucopterus, Buabua Mabawa-meupe (White-winged Tern)
• Chlidonias niger, Buabua Mabawa-kijivu (Black Tern)
• Gelochelidon nilotica, Buabua Domo-nene (Gull-billed Tern)
• Gygis alba, Buabua Mweupe (White Tern au White Noddy)
• Hydroprogne caspia, Buabua Domo-kubwa (Caspian Tern)
• Onychoprion anaethetus, Buabua Mgongo-kijivu (Bridled Tern)
• Onychoprion fuscatus, Buabua Mgongo-mweusi (Sooty Tern)
• Sterna dougallii, Buabua Mkia-mshale (Roseate Tern)
• Sterna hirundo, Buabua Mbayuwayu (Common Tern)
• Sterna paradisaea, Buabua wa Akitiki (Arctic Tern)
• Sterna repressa, Buabua Mashavu-meupe (White-cheeked Tern)
• Sterna sumatrana, Buabua Kisogo-cheusi (Black-naped Tern)
• Sterna virgata, Buabua wa Kerguelen (Kerguelen Tern)
• Sterna vittata, Buabua wa Antakitiki (Antarctic Tern)
• Sternula albifrons, Buabua Kibete (Little Tern)
• Sternula balaenarum, Buabua wa Damara (Damara Tern)
• Sternula saundersi, Buabua wa Saunders (Saunders’s Tern)
• Thalasseus bengalensis, Buabua Kishungi Mdogo (Lesser Crested Tern)
• Thalasseus bergii, Buabua Kishungi Mkubwa (Greater Crested Tern)
• Thalasseus maximus, Buabua Mfalme (Royal Tern)
• Thalasseus sandvicensis, Buabua Domo-rangimbili (Sandwich Tern)

Spishi za mabara mengine

• Chlidonias albostriatus (Black-fronted Tern) zamani Sterna albostriata
• Gygis microrhyncha (Little White Tern)
• Larosterna inca (Inca Tern)
• Onychoprion aleuticus (Aleutian Tern)
• Onychoprion lunatus (Spectacles au Grey-backed Tern)
• Phaetusa simplex (Large-billed Tern)
• Procelsterna albivitta (Grey Noddy)
• Procelsterna cerulea (Blue Noddy)
• Sterna acuticauda (Black-bellied Tern) labda Chlidonias
• Sterna aurantia (River Tern)
• Sterna forsteri (Forster's Tern)
• Sterna hirundinacea (South American Tern)
• Sterna striata (White-fronted Tern)
• Sterna trudeaui (Snowy-crowned au Trudeau's Tern)
• Sternula antillarum (Least Tern) zamani imeainishwa kama spishi ndogo wa Sterna albifrons
• Sternula lorata (Peruvian Tern)
• Sternula nereis (Fairy Tern)
• Sternula superciliaris (Yellow-billed Tern)
• Thalasseus acuflavidus (Cabot's Tern)
• Thalasseus bernsteini (Chinese Crested Tern)
• Thalasseus elegans (Elegant Tern)

Picha

• Buabua mweusi

• Buabua kahawia

• Buabua domo-jembamba

• Buabua masharubu

• Buabua mabawa-meupe

• Buabua mabawa-kijivu

• Buabua domo-nene

• Buabua mweupe

• Buabua domo-kubwa

• Buabua mgongo-kijivu

• Buabua mgongo-mweusi

• Buabua mkia-mshale

• Buabua mbayuwayu

• Buabua wa Akitiki

• Buabua mashavu-meupe

• Buabua kisogo-cheusi

• Buabua wa Kerguelen

• Buabua wa Antakitiki

• Buabua kibete

• Buabua kishungi mdogo

• Buabua kishungi mkubwa

• Buabua mfalme

• Buabua domo-rangimbili

• Inca tern

• Grey-backed tern

• Grey noddy

• Blue noddy

• River tern

• Forster’s tern

• White-fronted tern

• Least tern

• Yellow-billed tern

• Elegant tern