Sooty Tern

1. Black upperparts with a broad white forehead patch and white underparts

2. Deeply forked tail and black bill

3. Juveniles are dark brown with white spots, lacking the crisp adult pattern

Sooty Terns breed on remote tropical and subtropical islands around the world, including locations in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans; in large, noisy colonies, laying a single egg in a shallow scrape on the ground. Both parents share incubation duties and care for the chick. They feed by picking small fish and squid from the ocean surface, often in association with predatory fish that drive prey upwards. Sooty Terns cannot swim or rest on water for long, as their plumage lacks waterproofing. Remarkably, young birds may remain airborne for several years before returning to land to breed

Sooty Terns are found over warm tropical oceans around the globe, typically far from land except during the breeding season. They nest in dense colonies on sandy or coral islands, often forming gatherings of thousands or even millions of birds. Outside the breeding season, they are almost exclusively pelagic, rarely seen from shore unless displaced by storms.