Brown Noddy

IDENTIFICATION: A dark brown, sleek seabird with a white cap that fades toward the nape. Unlike the common white tern species in Puerto Rico, it has a wedge-shaped tail, rather than a forked tail. Length: 40-45 cm.; weight: 180 g.

VOICE: A shrill, grinding "karrrk" call, given at the breeding colonies.

HABITAT: Feeds both inshore and well offshore, and nests on isolated islands.

HABITS: Snatches squid and fish from the surface of the ocean or dives at a shallow angle. It spends much of its life at sea, and is typically found close to land only during the breeding season. At sea, it will often take advantage of schools of small fish driven to the surface by larger, predatory fish. In summer the female builds a limited nest of pebbles, sticks and seaweed on a cliff ledge on isolated islands; sometimes a stick nest in a tree or shrub. The female lays only one pinkish egg each year. Both sexes incubate the egg for alternating 24-hour periods over 33-36 days, and both male and female brood and feed the chick. The chick starts to fly at about 46 days after hatching, but the parents continue to feed it for several months afterwards. Noddies can travel widely: One bird banded in Florida was recovered 12 years later in Puerto Rico. Noddies donÆt begin to breed until 3-7 years of age.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: The Noddy is common in Puerto Rico only in the waters off the nesting colonies. The Caribbean breeding population is estimated at 10,000-18,000 pairs, with about 1,000-1,500 pairs breeding near Culebra. They are susceptible to disturbance by nest predators: Red-tailed Hawks, Laughing Gulls, and ants have been documented to prey on adults, nestlings or eggs at Culebra. Hurricane Hugo killed many birds at nesting colonies at Culebra.

RANGE: The Brown Noddy inhabits tropical coastal waters throughout the world. It nests in colonies on isolated offshore islands on or near Mona, Monito, and Culebra Islands, and La Cordillera Nature Reserve.

TAXONOMY: CHARADRIIFORMES; LARIDAE; Sterninae

Photo: G. Beaton

Photo: G. Beaton

References

Bent, A.C. 1921. Life histories of North American gulls and terns. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 113. (Reprinted by Dover Press, 1963).

Burger, A. E. and A. D. Lawrence. 2000. Seabird monitoring techniques. Pp. 148-173 in Status and conservation of West Indian seabirds (E. A. Schreiber and D. S. Lee, eds.). Soc. Carib. Ornith., Special Pub. No. 1.

Chardine, J. W., R. D. Morris and R. L. Norton. 2000. Status and conservation needs of Brown Noddies and Black Noddies in the West Indies. Pp. 118-125 in Status and conservation of West Indian seabirds (E. A. Schreiber and D. S. Lee, eds.). Soc. Carib. Ornith., Special Pub. No. 1.

Chardine, J. W. and R. D. Morris. 1996. Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus). No. 220 in The birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, PA, and Am. Ornithol. Union, Washington, D.C.

Dammann, A.E. and D.W. Nellis. 1992. A natural history atlas to the cays of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Pineapple Press, Sarasota, FL.

del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. 1996. Handbook of Birds of the World, Vol. 3. Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Erdman, D.S. 1967. Seabirds in relation to game fish schools off Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Carib. J. Sci. 7:78-85.

Harrison, P. 1983. Seabirds: an identification guide. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.

Harrison, P. 1987. A field guide to seabirds of the world. Stephen Greene Press, Lexington, MA.

Morris, R.D. and J.W. Chardine. 1995. Brown Noddies on Cayo Noroeste, Culebra, Puerto Rico: what happened in 1990? Auk 112:326-334.

Meier, A. J., R. E. Noble, and H. A. Raffaele. 1989. The birds of Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico, including a new record for Puerto Rican territory. Carib. J. Sci. 25:24-29.

Nixon, S. and V. Lee. 1998. A comparison of foraging techniques of Brown Pelicans and Brown Boobies in Sandy Ground Lagoon, Jost Van Dyke, B.V.I. Carib. J Sci. 34(1-2):125-129.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Rolle, F. J., H. Heatwole, R. Lewins, and F. Torres. 1964. Faunal notes on Monito Island, Puerto Rico. Carib. J Sci. 4:321-322.

Schreiber, E. A. and D. S. Lee. 2000. West Indian seabirds: a disappearing natural resource. Pp. 1-10 in Status and conservation of West Indian seabirds (E. A. Schreiber and D. S. Lee, eds.). Soc. Carib. Ornith., Special Pub. No. 1.

Schreiber, E. A. 2000. Action plan for conservation of West Indian seabirds. Pp. 182-191 in Status and conservation of West Indian seabirds (E. A. Schreiber and D. S. Lee, eds.). Soc. Carib. Ornith., Special Pub. No. 1.

Wiley, J. W. 2000. A bibliography of seabirds in the West Indies. Pp. 192-225 in Status and conservation of West Indian seabirds (E. A. Schreiber and D. S. Lee, eds.). Soc. Carib. Ornith., Special Pub. No. 1.

Brown Noddy, Spanish text

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