Black noddy

The black noddy was first formally described by German naturalist and lawyer Friedrich Boie in 1844 under its current binomial name. The genus name Anous is ancient Greek for "stupid" or "foolish". The specific name minutus is the Latin for "small". There are seven subspecies: • A. m. worcesteri (McGregor, 1911) – Cavilli Island and Tubbataha Reef (Sulu Sea) • A. m. minutus Boie, 1844 – northeast Australia and New Guinea to Tuamotu Archipelago • A. m. marcusi (Bryan, 1903) – Marcus and Wake Islands through Micronesia to the Caroline Islands • A. m. melanogenys Gray, 1846 – Hawaiian Islands to the Kermadec Islands • A. m. diamesus (Heller and Snodgrass, 1901) – Clipperton Island (off western Mexico) and Cocos Island (off western Costa Rica) • A. m. americanus (Mathews, 1912) – islands in the Caribbean Sea • A. m. atlanticus (Mathews, 1912) – tropical islands in the Atlantic Black noddy (Anous minutus marcusi) in flight Rock Islands.jpg|A. m. marcusi, Rock Islands, Palau Black noddies (Anous minutus marcusi) Rock Islands.jpg|A. m. marcusi, Rock Islands, Palau ==Description==

The black noddy has a length of , a wingspan of and a weight of . It has dark plumage and a pale crown. There is a small white crescent under each eye and a white spot above. It has long tapering wings and a truncated tail. The sharply pointed bill is black. The feet are fully webbed and are black in most subspecies but orange in melanogenys. Black noddies (Anous minutus marcusi) Rock Islands.jpg ==Behaviour==

These birds may have become known as "noddies" because of the behaviour of both sexes as they constantly dip their heads during their breeding display. They are very tolerant of humans even to the extent that they can be picked up off the nest. They feed on fish and squid which they gather by flying low over the surface of the sea and picking them up. The guano produced by these birds adds large quantities of nutrients to the soil which is of great importance to the plant communities on coral islands. ==Distribution==

The black noddy has a worldwide distribution in tropical and subtropical seas, with colonies widespread in the Pacific Ocean and more scattered across the Caribbean, central Atlantic and in the northeast Indian Ocean. At sea it is usually seen close to its breeding colonies within 80 km of shore. Birds return to their colonies, or to other islands, to roost at night. == Gallery ==

File:Anous minutus by Gregg Yan 01.jpg|Nesting in Tubbataha Reef National Park, Philippines File:Anous minutus.JPG|Calling at colony. File:Anous minutus -nesting -Heron Island-8.jpg|Nesting on Heron Island, Australia File:Black noddy and chick.jpg|Black noddy with chick File:Black Noddy Head.jpg|Black noddy head File:Common Noddy head.JPG|Common noddy head - note stouter beak, greyer cap File:Black Noddy Tern.JPG|Black noddy File:Black Noddy in flight at North Curl Curl, 2025.jpg|Black noddy in flight Anous minutus MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.131.19.jpg| Anous minutus - MHNT ==References==