img
Birds

Sooty
Tern

Least Concern

Unknown

Sooty Tern

Onychoprion fuscatus

The sooty tern is a seabird of the tern family. It is a bird of the tropical oceans, breeding on islands throughout the equatorial zone. This is a large tern, similar in size to the Sandwich tern. 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. The Sooty Tern is unlikely to be confused with any tern apart from the similarly dark-backed but smaller bridled tern.

Wideawake Tern, Wideawake

Regional Names
  • Bengali:
    সুটি টার্ন
  • French:
    Sterne fuligineuse
  • Marathi:
    धूसर सुरय
Media Gallery
Taxanomy

CHARADRIIFORMES
LARIDAE
Onychoprion fuscatus

Quick Facts
  • It is a state bird of Lakshadweep.
  • It spends more time in the air than any other bird. It takes off over the ocean and flies for at least 3 years without settling on water or land.
ADVERTISEMENT
Similar Birds

similar Birds you may like

img

Aleutian Tern

Onychoprion aleuticus
Read more
img

Black Skimmer

Rynchops niger
Read more
img

Blue-gray Noddy

Anous ceruleus
Read more
img

Elegant Tern

Thalasseus elegans
Read more
img

Forster's Tern

Sterna forsteri
Read more
img

Gray-backed Tern

Onychoprion lunatus
Read more
img

Gull-billed Tern

Gelochelidon nilotica
Read more
img

Inca Tern

Larosterna inca
Read more
img

Indian River Tern

Sterna aurantia
Read more
img

Indian Skimmer

Rynchops albicollis
Read more
img

Large-billed Tern

Phaetusa simplex
Read more
img

Least Tern

Sternula antillarum
Read more
img

Lesser Crested Tern

Thalasseus bengalensis
Read more
img

Little Tern

Sternula albifrons
Read more
img

Red-legged Kittiwake

Rissa brevirostris
Read more
img

Royal Tern

Thalasseus maximus
Read more
img

Sandwich Tern

Thalasseus sandvicensis
Read more
img

Whiskered Tern

Chlidonias hybrida
Read more
img

Yellow-billed Tern

Sternula superciliaris
Read more