Home Log Out
Birdpedia - Australia         | Home | Birds | Calendar | Reserves | Field Trips | Sightings | Reports | Contacts | [HBW - BirdLife (v3)] 28/03/2024 08:45:24 PM
Species Database
Find
Quick Links
News
 
Species Details [Taxonomy: HBW - BirdLife (v3)] Print... Email... 

 LC    Sooty Tern* Id (Atlas): 120
    Onychoprion fuscatus

Description (10)
Image of Sooty Tern
  Medium large. Pelagic. Long forked tail. Sexes alike. Subspecies differ slightly.

Adults: Forehead, white and distinctive, extending to eye. Eye, dark brown. Underparts, white. Flanks, undertail coverts, washed with grey. Upperparts, black, with outer web of outer tail feather white. Underwing coverts, white, contrasting with black flight feathers. Bill, black. Legs, black.

Immatures: All black except for a whitish forehead, dark grey breast and grey, belly, undertail and underwing coverts. Lacks long tail streamers.


Other Scientific Names
Onychoprion fuscata [Christidis and Boles (2008)], Onychoprion fuscatus [AOU checklist (1998 + supplements)]

Other Names (World)
Sooty Tern, Egg-bird, Wide-awake, Wide-awake Tern, Whale Bird

Family
Laridae (Gulls, Terns, Skimmers)

Size
36 - 46 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Linnaeus, 1766)

Derivation
Stern'-a - N.L., a gull: fus-cä'-ta - L., fuscatus, darkened

Abundance (Guide)
A

Abundant at the breeding colonies. Casual, migratory and dispersive elsewhere.

Habitat
Seas in the vicinity of its breeding islands, usually in flocks.

Range (Guide)
American Samoa (B), Anguilla (B), Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia (B), Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory (B), Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China (mainland), Cocos (Keeling) Islands (B), Colombia, Comoros, Cook Islands (B), Costa Rica, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea (B), Fiji (B), French Guiana, French Polynesia (B), French Southern Territories (B), Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam (NB), Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of] (NB), Jamaica (B), Japan, Kenya, Kiribati (B), Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives (B), Marshall Islands (B), Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius (B), Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia [Federated States of] (B) (NB), Montserrat, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru (B), Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand (B), Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norfolk Island (B), Northern Mariana Islands (B), Oman (B), Palau (B), Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands (B), Puerto Rico, Réunion (B), Samoa (B), Sâo Tomé e Principe (B), Saudi Arabia (B), Senegal, Seychelles (B), Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, St Helena (B), St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Suriname, Taiwan (China), Tanzania [United Republic of] (B), Thailand, Tokelau (B), Tonga (B), Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands (B), Tuvalu (B), United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands (B), USA (B), Vanuatu (B), Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands (British) (B), Virgin Islands (U.S.) (B), Yemen.

Vagrant to Bahrain, Belgium, Cape Verde, Christmas Island, Côte dIvoire, Denmark, Eritrea, France, Germany, Ghana, Hong Kong (China), Iceland, Israel, Italy, Malawi, Norway, Portugal, Sierra Leone, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Tunisia, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe.

Image of Range of Sooty Tern
Breeds on Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, at several islands in the Coral Sea, at islands on the northern Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait and off the coast of northern and western Australia to the Abrolhos Group, WA.
 
Rarity Status
View Rarity Status Information

Population
Estimated population is 21,000,000 - 22,000,000 (2010).

Status LC
Secure.

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Carnivorous. Cephalopods, hydrozoans, crustaceans and fish.

Voice
A nasal, 'ker-wack-wack', especially at the breeding colonies.



Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (37)...)

 
Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus) [XC766526]
     by id from Phillip Island, Australia (alarm call)

 
Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus) [XC117160]
     by david m from Eastern Island Midway Atoll, United States (call, flight call)

Breeding Season (Guide)
Throughout the year but seasonally at its colonies.

J F M A M J J A S O N D
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


Nest
None. Bare ground, on grass, or under the shelter of a tussock of grass. In very large colonies.

Eggs (Guide)
Usually 1; off-white often with pink tinge and blotched with purple or brown; long-oval; about 53 x 36 mm. Incubation: about 29 days; by both sexes.

Young
Precocual, semi-nidifugous. Fledge in about 70 days.

Subspecies
Separation of subspecies crissalis, infuscata and serrata probably not warranted. Validity of proposed form somaliensis, possibly endemic to Mait I (Gulf of Aden), requires study.

The following 8 subspecies are recognised:

  • fuscatus (Linnaeus, 1766)   -  Gulf of Mexico, eastern Mexico and western Indies; Gulf of Guinea islands.
  • serratus Wagler, 1830   -  Breeds from western and northern Australia, through southern Pacific, east to Easter Island.
  • nubilosus Sparrman, 1788   -  Breeds Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, east to Greater Sunda Islands (including Cocos - Keeling Islands), Philippines and Ryu Kyu Island.
  • kermadeci (Mathews, 1916)   -  Breeds Kermadec Island.
  • oahuensis Bloxham, 1826   -  Breeds tropical northern Pacific, from Marcus Island to Christmas Island.
  • crissalis (Lawrence, 1872)   -  Breeds Pacific coast of Central America, south to Galapagos.
  • luctuosus Philippi and Landbeck, 1866   -  Juan Fernández Islands (off Chile).
  • infuscatus Lichtenstein, 1823   -  Central Indonesia (range uncertain).


Similar Species
Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus)
Smaller. Browner. Has a distinct white 'V' on head formed by a longer, narrow eyebrow joining at the forehead. Has a pale grey collar. More white in tail.

Common Noddy (Anous stolidus)
Larger. Immatures are browner and do not have a greyish white lower belly and undertail coverts.

Compare Images


References
See References.

The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9


Files:
JPG files for Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus) - 10 filesMP3 files for Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus) - 1 files


More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the Sooty Tern see... Show Articles BirdLife International Species Factsheet.


Articles about the Sooty Tern

If you would like to read any articles about the Sooty Tern... Show Articles Show Articles (0)


No Pictures of Sooty Tern

If Birdpedia has no pictures of Sooty Tern or you would like to see more, then try the following...

      Show External Images from BING From BING (10)


No Videos of Sooty Tern

If Birdpedia has no videos of Sooty Tern or you would like to see more, then try the following..

      Show External Videos From BING (0)


Where can I observe this species?
Select an area (or leave blank) to see locations where this species has been recorded.

Area
  All   

Optional: Complete the following if you wish to restrict the reserve to within a given distance of a location.

Please enter the Latitude and Longitiude of a given location together with the maximum distance (km) to display a list of reserves within that distance. You must enter a Latitude, a Longitude and a distance greater than 0.
 
Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)
Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
         or   GPS help
Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)
Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
         or   Find GPS using Google Maps
Distance Bearing  
Get Sample GPS readings


On What Field Trips was this species observed?
Select an area (or leave blank), and a date range, to see field trips on which this species has been recorded.

Area
  All   

From To  
 

Optional: Complete the following if you wish to restrict the reserve to within a given distance of a location.

Please enter the Latitude and Longitiude of a given location together with the maximum distance (km) to display a list of reserves within that distance. You must enter a Latitude, a Longitude and a distance greater than 0.
 
Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)
Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
         or   GPS help
Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)
Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
         or
Distance Bearing  
Get Sample GPS readings


Latest Sightings for Sooty Tern
Select the Area to restrict the Sightings.

Area
  All