Sooty tern

{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | image = TRINTA-RÉIS-DAS-ROCAS na Ilha da Trindade - 2022 (52551310766).jpg | image_caption = ''Onychoprion fuscatus fuscatus'' on Ilha da Trindade, Brazil | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2020 |title=''Onychoprion fuscatus'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T22694740A168895142 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22694740A168895142.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Onychoprion | species = fuscatus | authority = (Linnaeus, 1766) | subdivision_ranks = Subspecies | subdivision = 2–9, see text | synonyms = ''Onychoprion fuscata'' (''orth. err.'') ''Sterna fuscata'' Linnaeus, 1766 ''Sterna fuliginosa'' J. F. Gmelin, 1789<ref name=fuliginosa>{{Avibase|3E7F825D|name=Onychoprion fuscatus}}</ref> ''Sterna fuscata nubilosa'' and see text | range_map = Onychoprion fuscatus map.svg }}

The '''sooty tern''' ('''''Onychoprion fuscatus''''') is a tern in the family Laridae. It is a seabird of the tropical oceans and can fly for years at a time, skimming the sea surface for food, and returning to land only to breed, on islands throughout the equatorial zone.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2008/Sooty-Tern-Migration | title=Sooty Tern Migration }}</ref><ref name="Pioneers Of The Deep">{{cite episode|title=Pioneers Of The Deep |series=Life On Fire |first1=Bertrand |last1=Loyer |first2=Jacques |last2=Bedel |first3=François |last3=de Riberolles |first4=Jeremy |last4=Irons (Narrator) |date=January 2014}}</ref>

== Taxonomy == The sooty tern was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1766 as ''Sterna fuscata'', bearing this name for many years until the genus ''Sterna'' was split up; it is now classified in the genus ''Onychoprion'' as ''Onychoprion fuscatus''.<ref name="IOC">{{cite web | title=Noddies, skimmers, gulls, terns, skuas, auks – IOC World Bird List | website=IOC World Bird List – Version 14.2 | date=2024-08-17 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/gulls/ | access-date=2025-02-21}}</ref><ref>Bridge et al. (2005)</ref> The genus name is from ancient Greek {{transliteration|grc|onux}}, "claw" or "nail", and {{transliteration|grc|prion}}, "saw". The species name ''fuscatus'' is Latin for "dark".<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n167 167], 282}}</ref>

The sooty tern has little interspecific variation, but it is usually divided into six to eight allopatric subspecies. Some recent authors further subdivide the Indopacific population into up to eight subspecies altogether,{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} but much of the variation is clinal. The affinities of eastern Pacific birds (including ''O. f. manutarus'' of Easter Island) are most strongly contested.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} Six subspecies are currently accepted by the IOC:<ref name="IOC"/>

*''Onychoprion fuscatus fuscatus'' (Linnaeus, 1766) – breeds on tropical Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean islands. Underparts white. *''Onychoprion fuscatus nubilosus'' (Sparrman, 1788) – breeds across the Indian Ocean from the Red Sea to Indonesia, and also the Philippines in the western Pacific Ocean. Underparts light grey in fresh plumage, dull white in worn plumage. * ''Onychoprion fuscatus serratus'' (Wagler, 1830) – breeds on islands off Australia, New Guinea, and New Caledonia. * ''Onychoprion fuscatus oahuensis'' (Bloxam, 1826) – breeds in the north-central tropical Pacific Ocean from the Bonin Islands through Micronesia to southern Polynesia and Hawaii. * ''Onychoprion fuscatus crissalis'' Lawrence, 1872 – breeds in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean from Guadalupe Island to the Galápagos Islands. * ''Onychoprion fuscatus luctuosus'' (Philippi & Landbeck, 1866) – breeds on the Juan Fernández Islands off Chile in the subtropical southeastern Pacific Ocean.

Two additional subspecies have been suggested by other authors:<ref name="HBW">{{cite book | last1=Hoyo | first1=Josep del | last2=Elliott | first2=Andrew | last3=Sargatal | first3=Jordi | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World: Hoatzin to auks | publisher=Lynx edicions | publication-place=Barcelona | date=1992 | isbn=84-87334-20-2 | page=661}}</ref> * ''Onychoprion fuscatus infuscatus'' (Lichtenstein, 1823) – Sunda Islands and vicinity (included in ''O. f. nubilosus'' by IOC<ref name="IOC"/>). * ''Onychoprion fuscatus kermadeci'' Mathews, 1916. – Kermadec Islands (included in ''O. f. serratus'' by IOC<ref name="IOC"/>).

<gallery mode = packed heights = 150px> File:Onychoprion fuscatus Ascension Island 7.jpg|''O. f. fuscatus'' on Ascension Island Sterna fuscata.JPG|''O. f. oahuensis'' on Tern Island, French Frigate Shoals, Hawaii Onychoprion fuscatus -Rodrigues Island, Indian Ocean -flying-8.jpg|''O. f. nubilosus'', Rodrigues Island in the Indian Ocean Sooty tern (Onychoprion fuscatus serrata) in flight Michaelmas Cay.jpg|''O. f. serratus'', Michaelmas Cay, Queensland </gallery>

== Description == [[File:Lord Howe Island - Sooty Tern juvenile.JPG|left|thumb|Juvenile on Lord Howe Island; note the scaly appearance]]

It is a medium-large tern, similar in size to the Sandwich tern (''Thalasseus sandvicensis'') at {{convert|36|–|45|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} long with an {{convert|82|–|94|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} wingspan. The wings and tail are long, and it has black to dark blackish-brown upperparts and white underparts, and a white forehead. The tail is moderately deeply forked (more deeply forked than in ''Thalasseus'' terns, but less deeply than most ''Sterna'' terns), black, with white outer edges. It has black legs and bill.<ref name="HBW"/> The average life span is 32 years.<ref>[http://www.fws.gov/midway/sote.html FWS]</ref> Juvenile sooty terns are grey-black above and below with narrow pale fringes on the upperpart feathers giving a scaly appearance above, and whitish on only the lower belly.<ref name="Svensson">{{cite book | last1=Svensson | first1=Lars | last2=Mullarney | first2=Killian | last3=Zetterstroem | first3=Dan | title=Collins Bird Guide | publisher=William Collins | date=2023-03-16 | isbn=978-0-00-854746-2 | page=}}</ref>

The sooty tern is unlikely to be confused with any tern apart from the similarly dark-backed but smaller bridled tern (''O. anaethetus''). It is darker-backed than that species, and has a broader white forehead and no pale neck collar.

The call is a loud piercing 'wide-a-wake',<ref name="HBW"/> also cited as {{not a typo|ker-wack-a-wack}}; it also has a harsh alarm call {{not a typo|kvaark}}.<ref name="Svensson"/>

Sooty terns breed in colonies on rocky or coral islands.<ref name = streets1877>Streets (1877)</ref> It nests in a ground scrape or hole and lays a single egg, typically in the afternoon.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=William Y. |author-link1=William Yancey Brown |date=1977 |title=Temporal Patterns in Laying, Hatching and Incubation of Sooty Terns and Brown Noddies |jstor=1367549 |journal=The Condor |volume=79 |issue=1 |pages=133–136 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.2307/1367549}}</ref> Although "two-egg clutches" have been reported, they probably occur when an egg from one nest rolls into another.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=William Y. |author-link1=William Yancey Brown |date=1975 |title=Artifactual Clutch Size in Sooty Terns and Brown Noddies |jstor=416059 |journal=The Wilson Bulletin |volume=87 |issue=1 |pages=115–116}}</ref> 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 for 3 to 10 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.drytortugasinfo.com/sooty-tern.html|title=The Sooty Tern |first1=Dennis |last1=Plunkett |year=2013 |website=The Dry Tortugas}}</ref> Due to the lack of oil in its feathers, it cannot float, and spends that entire time on the wing.<ref name="Pioneers Of The Deep"/>

This bird is migratory and dispersive, wintering more widely through the tropical oceans. It has very marine habits compared to most terns; sooty terns are generally found inland only after severe storms. The Field Museum, for example, has a male specimen which was found exhausted on August 2, 1933 on the slopes of Mount Cameroon above Buea, about {{convert|1000|m|ft|abbr=on}} ASL, after foul weather had hit the Gulf of Guinea.<ref>Boulton & Rand (1952)</ref> This species is a rare vagrant to western Europe, although a bird was present at Cemlyn Bay, Wales for 11 days in July 2005.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.michaelmckee.co.uk/bird_s.asp?ID=325&Region=Rarities&Year=2005|title=Sooty Tern Cemlyn Bay, Anglesey, Wales|website=michaelmckee.co.uk|access-date=2018-07-19|archive-date=2020-12-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229160930/http://www.michaelmckee.co.uk/bird_s.asp?ID=325&Region=Rarities&Year=2005}}</ref>

It is also not normally found on the Pacific coasts of the Americas due to its pelagic habits. At Baja California, where several nesting locations are offshore, it can be seen more frequently, whereas for example only two individuals have ever been recorded on the coast of El Salvador - one ring recovered in 1972, and a bird photographed on October 10, 2001 at Lake Olomega<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/nab/v056n03/p00369-p00371.pdf |title=Mexico - Central America|date=2002|website=The University of New Mexico}}</ref> which was probably blown there by a storm.<ref>Herrera et al. (2006)</ref> Hurricanes can also devastate small breeding colonies, as has been surmised for example for the sooty tern nesting sites on cays off the San Andrés Islands of Colombia.<ref>Estela et al. (2005)</ref>

An exceptionally common bird, the sooty tern is not considered threatened by the IUCN.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />

== In culture == Colloquially, it is sometimes known as "wideawake" or "wideawake tern"; an onomatopoeic name derived from its call 'wide-a-wake',<ref name="HBW"/> as is the Hawaiian name ''ʻewa ʻewa'' which roughly means "cacophony".<ref>From ''ʻewa'', "crooked, out of shape, imperfect" (Pukui et al. 1992: p.17)</ref> In most of Polynesia its name is ''manutara'' or similar, literally "tern-bird",<ref>The Polynesian word for terns (''tara'') is the same as the word for "pointed"; it is easy to see how these sharp-billed fork-tailed birds came to be called thus (Tregear, 1891)</ref> though it might be better rendered in English as "the tern" or "common tern". This refers to the fact that wherever Polynesian seafarers went on their long voyages, they usually would find these birds in astounding numbers. It is also known as ''kaveka'' in the Marquesas Islands, where dishes using its eggs are a delicacy.<ref name="BlondBrash2006">{{cite book|last1=Blond|first1=Becca|last2=Brash|first2=Celeste|last3=Rogers|first3=Hilary |title=Tahiti & French Polynesia. Ediz. Inglese|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BI4-pi0eFq0C&pg=PA217|year=2006|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74059-998-6|page=217}}</ref>

On Easter Island, this species and the spectacled tern (''O. lunatus'') are collectively known as ''manutara''. The ''manutara'' played an important role in the ''tangata manu'' ("birdman") ritual: whichever ''hopu'' (champion) could retrieve the first ''manutara'' egg from Motu Nui islet would become that year's ''tangata manu''; his clan would receive prime access to resources, especially seabird eggs.

== Gallery == <gallery> Image:Sooty tern flying.JPG|Sooty tern colony on Tern Island (French Frigate Shoals) Image:Sooty Tern chick.JPG|Chick on Tern Island, French Frigate Shoals Image:BFAL SOTE shade.JPG|Sooty tern chicks seeking shade under the shadow of a young black-footed albatross Image:Frigate sooty.JPG|A chick is snatched by a predatory great frigatebird File:Onychoprion fuscatus -Phillip Island, Norfolk Island group, Australia -egg-8.jpg|Egg </gallery> {{Commons category}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

=== Sources === * Boulton, Rudyerd & Rand, A.L. (1952): A collection of birds from Mount Cameroon. ''Fieldiana Zoology'' '''34''' (5): 35–64. [https://archive.org/details/collectionofbird345boul Fulltext] at the Internet Archive * {{cite journal | last1 = Bridge | first1 = E.S. | last2 = Jones | first2 = A.W. | last3 = Baker | first3 = A.J. | year = 2005 | title = A phylogenetic framework for the terns (Sternini) inferred from mtDNA sequences: implications for taxonomy and plumage evolution | url = http://www2.hawaii.edu/~khayes/Journal_Club/summer2006/Bridge_et_al_2005_MPE.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060720204025/http://www2.hawaii.edu/~khayes/Journal_Club/summer2006/Bridge_et_al_2005_MPE.pdf | archive-date = 2006-07-20 | journal = Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume = 35 | issue = 2| pages = 459–469 | doi = 10.1016/j.ympev.2004.12.010| pmid = 15804415 | bibcode = 2005MolPE..35..459B }} * {{cite journal | last1 = Estela | first1 = Felipe A. | last2 = Silva | first2 = John Douglas | last3 = Castillo | first3 = Luis Fernando | year = 2005 | title = El pelícano blanco americano (''Pelecanus erythrorhynchus'') en Colombia, con comentarios sobre los effectos de los huracanes en el Caribe [The American White Pelican (''Pelecanus erythrorhynchus'') in Colombia, with comments on the effects of Caribbean hurricanes] | url = http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/cal/v27n2/v27n2a10.pdf | journal = Caldasia | volume = 27 | issue = 2| pages = 271–275 | language = es }} * {{cite journal | last1 = Herrera | first1 = Néstor | last2 = Rivera | first2 = Roberto | last3 = Ibarra Portillo | first3 = Ricardo | last4 = Rodríguez | first4 = Wilfredo | year = 2006 | title = Nuevos registros para la avifauna de El Salvador. ["New records for the avifauna of El Salvador"]. | url = http://www.sao.org.co/publicaciones/boletinsao/01-Herrera.etal.RecordsSalvador.pdf | journal = Boletín de la Sociedad Antioqueña de Ornitología | volume = 16 | issue = 2| pages = 1–19 | language = es}} * Pukui, Mary Kawena; Elbert, Samuel Hoyt; Mookini, Esther T. & Nishizawa, Yu Mapuana (1992): ''New Pocket Hawaiian Dictionary with a Concise Grammars and Given Names in Hawaiian''. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. {{ISBN|0-8248-1392-8}} * Streets, Thomas H. (1877): Some Account of the Natural History of the Fanning Group of Islands. ''Am. Nat.'' '''11''' (2): 65–72. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2448050 First page image] * Tregear, Edward (1891): ''[https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-TreMaor.html Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary]''. Lyon and Blair, Wellington.

== Further reading == * Brown, William Yancey (1973). Breeding Biology of the Sooty Tern and Brown Noddy on Manana or Rabbit Island, Hawaii. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Hawaii.[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Breeding_Biology_of_Sooty_Terns_and_Brown_Noddies_on_Manana_Istand,_Hawaii.pdf] * {{cite journal | last1 = Collinson | first1 = M | year = 2006 | title = Splitting headaches? Recent taxonomic changes affecting the British and Western Palaearctic lists | url = http://www.britishbirds.co.uk/search?id=9283 | journal = British Birds | volume = 99 | issue = 6| pages = 306–323 }} * Olsen, Klaus Malling & Larsson, Hans (1995): ''Terns of Europe and North America''. Christopher Helm, London. {{ISBN|0-7136-4056-1}}

==External links== * [http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1849 Sooty tern article at BirdNote.org] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721191638/http://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1849 |date=2011-07-21 }}) * [http://www.aos-uk.com/ascension.html Sooty terns on Ascension Island South Atlantic] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302151014/http://www.aos-uk.com/ascension.html |date=2012-03-02 }})

Category:Birds described in 1766 Category:Birds of Ascension Island Category:Birds of Hawaii Category:Birds of Norfolk Island Category:Birds of the Atlantic Ocean Category:Birds of the Dominican Republic Category:Birds of the Indian Ocean Category:Birds of the Pacific Ocean Category:Least concern biota of Asia Category:Least concern biota of Oceania Category:Onychoprion Category:Fauna of the Pantropical realm Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Terns