{"id":2538,"date":"2007-07-30T16:01:00","date_gmt":"2007-07-30T16:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/2007\/07\/30\/sooty-tern-fact-sheet\/"},"modified":"2020-03-10T12:00:56","modified_gmt":"2020-03-10T13:00:56","slug":"sooty-tern-fact-shee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/sooty-tern-fact-shee\/","title":{"rendered":"Sooty tern fact sheet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Onychoprion<\/em> fuscatus <\/em>|\u00a0Sooty tern\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The sooty tern is\u00a0easy to distinguish from other terns by its dark upperparts which contrast with\u00a0its white underparts. They inhabit\u00a0tropical oceans, breeding on islands throughout the equatorial zone.\u00a0 In the Azores they nest occasionally, but\u00a0only in Santa Maria (ilh\u00e9u da Praia) and Graciosa. Populations have\u00a0been recorded breeding every twelve months, every nine and a half months and\u00a0every six months. Sooty terns are one of the most aerial of the terns that are\u00a0rarely seen on the surface of the ocean. They come to land to breed but can stay\u00a0out at sea for 3 \u2013 10 years at a time. The flight is powerful and direct, with\u00a0strong steady shallow wing beats. When they are feeding they are very graceful\u00a0and buoyant as they hover before\u00a0swooping down to pick food from the surface ( they do not plunge-dive).\u00a0This species is classified as “rare breeding” in the Azores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Length:<\/strong> 41 – 45 cm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weight: <\/strong>179 g<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wingspan:<\/strong> 81 – 94 cm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Population: <\/strong>c.21,000 – 22,000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diet: <\/strong>Small fish, crustaceans and squid<\/a> (they also occasionally take insects and offal)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Longevity:<\/strong> c.32 years<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breeding age: <\/strong>6 years<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eggs: <\/strong>1 – 3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incubation: <\/strong>31 – 33 days<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nesting sites:<\/strong> Small depressions on the ground<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fledging:<\/strong> 54 – 58 days<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other languages<\/strong>
Portuguese: Garajau-escuro\/Adorinha-do-mar
Spanish: Charr\u00e1n sombrio
French: Sterne fuligineuse
Italian: Sterna fuligginosa\/rodine di mare oscura
German: Ru\u00dfseeschwalbe
Dutch: Bonte stern
Swedish: Sott\u00e4rna
Norwegian: Sotterne
Danish: Sodfarvet terne
Finnish: Nokitiira<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Onychoprion fuscatus |\u00a0Sooty tern\u00a0 The sooty tern is\u00a0easy to distinguish from other terns by its dark upperparts which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[313],"tags":[277,79],"yoast_head":"\nSooty tern fact sheet - Azores Whales<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/sooty-tern-fact-shee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sooty tern fact sheet - Azores Whales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Onychoprion fuscatus |\u00a0Sooty tern\u00a0 The sooty tern is\u00a0easy to distinguish from other terns by its dark upperparts which…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/sooty-tern-fact-shee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Azores Whales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-07-30T16:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-10T13:00:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Azores Whales\",\"description\":\"Azores Whale Watching Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/sooty-tern-fact-shee\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/sooty-tern-fact-shee\/\",\"name\":\"Sooty tern fact sheet - Azores Whales\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-07-30T16:01:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-10T13:00:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ccbb558acf5445295d665fb153636c78\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/sooty-tern-fact-shee\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/sooty-tern-fact-shee\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/sooty-tern-fact-shee\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"item\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/sooty-tern-fact-shee\/#webpage\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ccbb558acf5445295d665fb153636c78\",\"name\":\"Futurismo Biologists Team\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc557f0ad5ebe29d770478dfcbf8f29d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc557f0ad5ebe29d770478dfcbf8f29d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Futurismo Biologists Team\"},\"description\":\"At Futurismo, we are not just a sea team. 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