Sooty tern
| Sooty tern | |
|---|---|
| Onychoprion fuscatus fuscatus on Ilha da Trindade, Brazil | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Laridae |
| Genus: | Onychoprion |
| Species: | O. fuscatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Onychoprion fuscatus (Linnaeus, 1766) | |
| Subspecies | |
|
2–9, see text | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Onychoprion fuscata (orth. err.) | |
The sooty tern (Onychoprion fuscatus) is a tern in the family Laridae. It is a seabird of the tropical oceans, and remarkably, has evolved the ability to fly for years at a time, skimming the sea surface for food, and returning to land only to breed, on islands throughout the equatorial zone.