sooty tern

bird

Also known as: Sterna fuscata

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Last updated

July 14, 2026

Quick Summary

The sooty tern (Onychoprion fuscatus) is a widely distributed seabird found in tropical oceans. It is characterized by its blackish upperparts and white underparts.1

Terns, including the sooty tern, belong to the subfamily Sterninae within the family Laridae, which also includes gulls. They are slender, graceful water birds with long wings and forked tails. Terns primarily feed on crustaceans and small fish, which they catch by diving into the water. They are gregarious birds that breed in large colonies, often on islands.2

The sooty tern, approximately 40 cm (16 inches) long, has a white forehead and is black above and white below. It breeds in large colonies on oceanic islands in warm regions. Some populations of sooty terns exhibit unusual breeding cycles, nesting every 9.6 months or every six months in specific locations.23

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charadriiform
Gulls (suborder Lari)
Sooty terns (Sterna fuscata) have attracted considerable attention from biologists because on Ascension Island, in the South Atlantic, they breed every 9.6 months and on Christmas Island, in the Pacific Ocean, every six months. Elsewhere they have an annual cycle.
Read More
Sooty terns (Sterna fuscata) have attracted considerable attention from biologists because on Ascension Island, in the South Atlantic, they breed every 9.6 months and on Christmas Island, in the Pacific Ocean, every six months. Elsewhere they have an annual cycle.
Read More

tern
The sooty tern (S. fuscata), about 40 cm (16 inches) long, has a white forehead and is otherwise black above and white below. It breeds in huge, noisy colonies on oceanic islands in warm regions.
Read More
The sooty tern (S. fuscata), about 40 cm (16 inches) long, has a white forehead and is otherwise black above and white below. It breeds in huge, noisy colonies on oceanic islands in warm regions.
Read More