Onychoprion fuscatus
Sooty Tern
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Charadriiformes
Family
Laridae
Genus
Onychoprion
Species
Onychoprion fuscatus
Status
least concern
Colours
Distinguishing features
The wings and deeply forked tail are long, and it has dark black upperparts and white underparts. It has black legs and bill. Juvenile Sooty Terns are scaly grey above and below. (Wikipedia)
Size
- From 40 cm to 46 cm (Length of specimen)
Wingspan
- From 82 cm to 94 cm
Synonyms
Similar taxa
-
Animalia:
Bridled Tern (species: Onychoprion anaethetus)
The Sooty Tern is darker-backed than the Bridled Tern and has a broader white forehead and no pale neck collar. (Wikipedia)
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Distribution and habitat preferences
It is a bird of the tropical oceans, breeding on islands throughout the equatorial zone. (Wikipedia)
Diet
It feeds by picking fish from the surface in marine environments, often in large flocks, and rarely comes to land except to breed, and can stay out to sea (either soaring or floating on the water) for 3 to 10 years. (Wikipedia)
Web resources
References
- Simpson, K., N. Day and P. Trusler (2004). Field Guide to Birds of Australia: 7th Edition Penguin Group (Australia), Camberwell, Victoria.
- Smith, G.C. (1987). The birds of Eagle Island, a tropical sand cay on the northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia, The Sunbird, 17(1): 1-11. LIRS catalog number 245.