Breeding adult. Photo: Duncan McCaskill/Flickr (CC BY NC 2.0)
Onychoprion fuscatus
| Conservation status | Abundant and widespread in tropical oceans around the world. Colonies on Tortugas and some in Hawaii are strictly protected. |
|---|---|
| Family | Gulls and Terns |
| Habitat | Warm tropical seas. Generally far out at sea, wandering widely but often following warm-water currents. Avoids shallow waters and areas near mainland coast. Nests mostly on small islands, on open sandy beaches with sparse vegetation. |
Forages by dipping down in flight to take fish from surface of water (or may take flying fish from above surface). Rarely or never plunges into water for prey below surface. Feeds mainly where small fish have been driven to surface by schools of large predatory fish, congregating quickly where such temporary concentrations of food exist.
One. Whitish, variably marked with brown, lavender, gray, sometimes black. Incubation is by both sexes, 28-30 days. On hot days, parents stand and shade the eggs. Young: Both parents feed young, regurgitating small fish. Young wanders in vicinity of nest, may return to it to be fed. Capable of flight at about 8-9 weeks, may stay around colony another 2-3 weeks.
Both parents feed young, regurgitating small fish. Young wanders in vicinity of nest, may return to it to be fed. Capable of flight at about 8-9 weeks, may stay around colony another 2-3 weeks.
Mostly fish, some squid. Feeds mainly on small fish that live in dense schools far out at sea. Also some small squid.
May not breed until age of 6 years or older. At Dry Tortugas, arrives in numbers two months before first eggs laid. At first, flocks visit site at night, circling over islands and calling, departing at dawn. Courtship involves high flight and gliding descent; on ground, birds strut and bow. Nest site is on ground, usually in open, sometimes under edge of shrubs. Nest (probably built by both sexes) is shallow scrape in soil, sometimes lined with a few leaves.
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