Breeds at Bedout and Lacépède Islands and the Abrolhos Griup, WA and at islands in the Torres Strait, the Coral Sean and the Great Barrier Reef south to Michaelmas Cay, near Cairns, Qld. Also on Lord Howe Island.
Habits
Pelagic. Usually in flocks sometimes large. Forages 3 to 5 m above water dipping down to pluck prey from the surface. Will rest on water surface.
Food
Small fish and other marine life, procured from the surface of the sea.
Voice
Threat or alarm note when disturbed on nest, 'kraa, kraa, kraa'. Also purring notes in courtship. Threatening 'kree-aw' or 'kuk-kuk-kuk'.
Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus) [XC619371]
by AUDEVARD Aur\u00e9lien from Tuamotus Islands, The Tuamotu and Gambier Islands, France (flight call)
Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus) [XC111977]
by Jim Holmes from Ch\u00e9z Nono, Bora Bora, Leeward Islands, French Polynesia, France (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Mainly September - January in south, March - June in north.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Nest
A flat structure, with a slight depression in the center, composed of seaweed and dried grass, loosely packed together, usually lined with small sea-shells, on the ground, on grass or upon a low shrubby bush. In large colonies.
Eggs (Guide)
1; matt, pale pink, blotched and spotted with rufous and purple-brown; long-oval; about 53 x 36 mm. Incubation: about 34 days; by both sexes.
Young
Semi-precocial. Fledge in about 35 - 40 days.
Subspecies
Subspecies plumbeigularis possibly inseparable from pileatus. Birds from Desaventurados Is (Chile) may represent an undescribed subspecies.
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
plumbeigularis (Linnaeus, 1758) - Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
pileatus (Scopoli, 1786) - Seychelles and Madagascar east to northern Australia, Polynesia, Hawaii, and Easter I, and possibly this subspecies in Desaventurados Is.
galapagensis Sharpe, 1879 - Galapagos.
ridgwayi Anthony, 1898 - Western Mexico (including Socorro I, Tres Marias and Isabella, Nayarit) and western Central America (including Cocos I).
stolidus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Caribbean and southern Atlantic islands (including Trinidade, Ascension, St Helena, Tristan da Cunha, Inaccessible), and Gulf of Guinea to Cameroon.
Similar Species
Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus)
Smaller. Immatures are blacker with greyish white lower belly and undertail coverts.
Black Noddy (Anous minutus)
Smaller. Is blacker, more slender and graceful. Cap is white. Bill is thinner.
Lesser Noddy (Anous tenuirostris)
Smaller. Is more sooty brown. Cap is pale grey.
Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus)
Smaller. Immatures have greyish white underparts and feathers of the back and wings have buff-white margins.
Compare Images
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
(37Kb) © ? (
BirdLife International Species Factsheet