Brown Noddy - BirdForum Opus

Subspecies pileatus
Photo © by Peter Day
Lady Elliot Island, Australia, June 2018

Subspecies plumbeigularis
Photo © by Mike Barth
Kalba, UAE, June 2010

Anous stolidus

Identification

Subspecies galapagensis
Photo © by bionicsherpa
Galapagos Islands, March 2009

38–45 cm (15-17¾ in)

• Dark brown overall plumage
• Grey crown
• whitish forehead

Distribution

Tropical oceans: Circumglobal.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Subspecies stolidus
Photo © by STEFFRO1
Garden Key, Dry Tortugas, Florida, March 2018

There are 5 subspecies^[1]:

• A. s. plumbeigularis:

• Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden

• A. s. pileatus:

• Seychelles and Madagascar to Australia, Polynesia and Hawaii

• A. s. galapagensis:

• Galapagos Islands

• A. s. ridgwayi:

• Western Mexico (Revillagigedo Islands) to Costa Rica (Cocos Island)

• A. s. stolidus:

• Caribbean and south Atlantic islands; Gulf of Guinea to Cameroon

A. s. plumbeigularis is usually considered invalid, and sometimes considered a subspecies of A. s. pileatus ^[2].

Habitat

Pelagic; breeds on oceanic islands.

Behaviour

Diet

They are surface feeders, feeding on small fish and squid.

Breeding

It nests on cliffs or in trees. A single egg is laid. They nest throughout the year in the Galapagos.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Apr 2018)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Brown Noddy. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 12 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Brown_Noddy

External Links

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