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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
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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.
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