Wildlifeof Thailand
Sooty Tern
Laridae
Photo: Kyle Van Houtan · CC BY 4.0 (May be cropped or resized)
Onychoprion fuscatus
Basic stats
Diet
Small fish and squid
Habitat
Tropical open ocean and oceanic islands
Range
Tropical oceans worldwide
The sooty tern is a long-winged oceanic tern with black upperparts, white underparts and a deeply forked tail. It spends years over tropical seas and returns to oceanic islands in immense, noisy colonies. Birds seize small fish and squid near the surface but rarely settle on water because their plumage is less waterproof than that of many seabirds (Wikipedia, general species account). It is Nationally Least Concern (Thailand Red Data 2025).
Quick answers
- What does the Sooty Tern eat?
- Small fish and squid
- What habitat does the Sooty Tern live in?
- Tropical open ocean and oceanic islands
- Where is the Sooty Tern found?
- Tropical oceans worldwide