- Scientific Name: Anous minutus Boie, 1844
- Polynesian Names: Oio, oa, tetere (Iles de la Société), i iri iri (Scilly), kikiriri (Tuamotu et Gambier), parara, noio (Marquises), o’io (Rurutu)
- Order: Charadriiformes
- Family: Laridae
- Category: Seabirds
- location:Tropical areas of Atlantic Ocean, Tropical areas of Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean
Apearance and identification
14 inches. Male and female identical in appearance. Bird with entirely black plumage except for the forehead and crown whichare silver-white. The beak, thin and straight and the legs are black. The wings are pointed, the tail is slightly forked (not always visible). The Noddy has the general shape of a Tern but the wings are shorter and the neck is less marked. This species is difficult to differentiate from the Brown Noddy Anous stolidus. Yet it is slightly smaller than the latter, and especially its plumage is darker and the white colouring of the cap is larger on the back. It also fishes often in large groups.
Videos
Voice
Characteristics
Tropical regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Indian Ocean. Present throughout French Polynesia, except in Rapa.
The nests are built on the ground or in shrubs (miki miki, Pemphis acidula; tohonu, Tournefortia argentea) or trees (puatea, Pisonia grandis). The female lays a single cream coloured egg 46 x 33 cm, mottled brown and grey-violet. Incubation lasts 35 days and is done by both sexes. Reproduction lasts from late December to late July in the Tuamotus; all year in the Marquesas; and from November to March in the Society Islands.
Birds of this species go fishing in the morning and return to their nesting site at nightfall. They remain in a radius of 20 km around the coast and hunt in packs.
Plaintive whistling close to the calls of the young. “Kraa-kraa-kra” it rattles in a more or less rapid and repeated manner at nesting sites. Powerful alarm.
Small fish, squid, molluscs, jellyfish, plankton and small gastropods.
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Location
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Tropical regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Indian Ocean. Present throughout French Polynesia, except in Rapa.
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Breeding
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The nests are built on the ground or in shrubs (miki miki, Pemphis acidula; tohonu, Tournefortia argentea) or trees (puatea, Pisonia grandis). The female lays a single cream coloured egg 46 x 33 cm, mottled brown and grey-violet. Incubation lasts 35 days and is done by both sexes. Reproduction lasts from late December to late July in the Tuamotus; all year in the Marquesas; and from November to March in the Society Islands.
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Habitat
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Birds of this species go fishing in the morning and return to their nesting site at nightfall. They remain in a radius of 20 km around the coast and hunt in packs.
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Voice
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Plaintive whistling close to the calls of the young. “Kraa-kraa-kra” it rattles in a more or less rapid and repeated manner at nesting sites. Powerful alarm.
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Food
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Small fish, squid, molluscs, jellyfish, plankton and small gastropods.
Status and protection
Common species in Polynesia and in its location area.
The species is classified as “Least Concern” (LC) on the IUCN Red List.
Original text by Caroline BLANVILLAIN – Supplements and update by various members of the SOP Manu.