Anous minutus
The Black Noddy (Anous minutus) is a charmingly diminutive seabird, recognized as the smallest of the noddies. Measuring 25-27 cm (10-11 in) in length with a wingspan of 46-52 cm (18-20 in) and weighing 82-120 g (2.9-4.2 oz), it sports a distinctive plumage of sooty black, sharply contrasted by a gleaming white cap that extends from the forehead to just above the eye. Its slender, pointed black bill and black legs complete its sleek appearance. As a member of the Laridae family, it belongs to...
Primarily found in tropical and subtropical coastal regions, atolls, and oceanic islands, nesting in trees or shrubs, particularly Pisonia grandis, typically at low elevations.
Mainly small fish and squid, occasionally supplemented with marine invertebrates and flying insects, captured by surface-dipping or hawking over water.
Black Noddies are highly social and diurnal, forming dense colonies often numbering in the thousands. They are masterful aerial foragers, employing agile surface-dipping and hawking techniques to snatch prey from the water's surface or even flying insects. During breeding, they are monogamous, wi...
The Black Noddy boasts a wide pantropical distribution, encompassing warm waters across the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Its breeding range includes numerous remote islands and atolls. In the Atlantic, populations are found in the Caribbean (e.g., Dry Tortugas, Bahamas, Lesser Antilles),...
Least Concern
- The Black Noddy is the smallest of all the noddy species. - Unlike most terns that nest on the ground, Black Noddies famously build their nests in trees and shrubs. - They use their own sticky guano (excrement) as a natural adhesive to 'glue' nest materials like leaves and twigs to tree branche...