Sooty Tern

Sooty Tern ( Onychoprion fuscatus )

The Sooty Tern ( Onychoprion fuscatus ) is a seabird of the tern family. Previously, the species was placed in the genus Sterna.

Features

The Sooty Tern is a large tern reached a similar size as the Sandwich Tern (Sterna sandvicensis ). She has a length of 33-36 inches and a wingspan 82-94 inches. The wings and deeply forked tail are long. The top is gray and the underside white. Beak and legs are black. Young Sooty Terns are pale gray on the top and bottom. Your reputation is a loud, penetrating ker - wack -a- wack or kvaark.

There are two similar breeds: O. f fuscatus from the Caribbean, the Atlantic and West Africa has a white underside, while O. f nubilosus that breeds from the Red Sea to the south-east Asia, a grayish tinge on the abdomen and the under wing-coverts having.

The Sooty Tern is hardly to be confused with other tern species, except with the smaller Zügelseeschwalbe. The back is similarly colored, but darker. Furthermore, it has a broader white forehead and no bright collar.

Distribution and habitat

It is a bird of the tropical oceans, breeding on islands throughout the equatorial zone. The species is a migratory and wintering largely over the tropical oceans. The Sooty Tern is an extremely rare guest in Western Europe. So it was in July 2005, a sighting in the Cemlyn Bay, Wales.

Way of life

Sooty Terns breed in colonies on rocky or coral islands, such as on Ascension Island and the Seychelles. They nest on the ground or scraped into troughs and place one to three eggs. The Sooty Tern feeds on fish, which it catches on the sea surface. It is to be seen in large flocks. Apart from the breeding season they may spend between three and ten years above the sea.

Pictures

Breeding colony

Chick

In Flight

Frigate with a captured Rußseeschwalbenküken

Sooty Tern and her nest

A flock of Sooty Terns