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Sooty Tern

Sterna fuscataOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae)
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Family
Species Sterna fuscata
Length14 - 16 Inches
Wingspan34 Inches

Sooty Tern

Sooty Tern: Medium-sized tern with long wings, deeply forked tail, black crown, nape, and upperparts, and a broad triangular white forehead patch. Underparts are white; upper tail is black with white outer edges. Direct flight with strong, shallow wing beats. Hovers before dipping for prey.

● Song: "ka-wake", "ke weh-de-wek" , "wacky-wack", "wide-awake"

● Foraging & Feeding: Sooty Tern: Skims water, takes fish (especially flying fish) and small aquatic animals on the wing. Feeds offshore with predatory fish that drive bait fish to the surface. Feeds extensively at night.

● Breeding & nesting: Sooty Tern: Simple scrape nest on ground, built by both sexes, lined with leaves; single white to buff egg with brown, lavender, or black markings. Incubation ranges from 27 to 30 days and is carried out by both sexes; Chick fed by both parents, fledges at 56 to 63 days.

● Similar species: Sooty Tern: Bridled Tern is smaller, lighter in build, narrower wings, longer tail, more buoyant and lighter flight, alights on flotsam but rarely on the sea. Bridled Tern's white forehead patch extends behind the eye.

Flight Pattern

Powerful direct flight with strong, steady, shallow wing beats. When feeding, graceful, buoyant flight, then hovers before downward swoop to pick food from surface. Does not plunge-dive.
Sooty Tern: Breeding Adult
● Range & Habitat: Sooty Tern: Largely pelagic, comes ashore only to breed. Breeding colony on Dry Tortugas, Florida. Florida breeding population spends most of its nonbreeding time off West Africa. Also nests on islets off Louisiana and Texas. Regular (nonbreeding) in summer north to North Carolina.
BreedingColonial
PopulationDeclining slightly, Common in coastal range, uncommon inland.
MigrationMigratory
Weight6.3 Ounces