Anous stolidus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Ordo: Charadriiformes
Subordo: Lari

Familia: Laridae
Genus: Anous
Species: Anous stolidus
Subspecies: A. s. galapagensis – A. s. pileatus – A. s. ridgwayi – A. s. stolidus
Name

Anous stolidus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms

Sterna stolida (protonym)

References

Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio Decima, Reformata. Tomus I. Holmiæ (Stockholm): impensis direct. Laurentii Salvii. 824 pp. DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.542 BHL p. 137 BHL Reference page.

Vernacular names
català: Nodi comú
čeština: Nody obecný
Deutsch: Noddi
ދިވެހިބަސް: މާރަނގަ
English: Brown Noddy
Esperanto: Bruna ŝterno
español: Tiñosa Boba
suomi: Ruskotiira
français: Noddi brun
magyar: Barna noddi
italiano: Sterna stolida bruna
日本語: クロアジサシ
Bahasa Melayu: Burung Camar Anggok
Nederlands: Noddy
polski: Rybitwa brunatna
پنجابی: بھوری ناڈی
português: Trinta-réis-escuro
русский: Обыкновенная глупая крачка
svenska: Brun noddy
lea faka-Tonga: Ngongo melomelo
українська: Звичайний дурний крячок
中文: 白顶玄鸥

The brown noddy or common noddy (Anous stolidus) is a seabird in the family Laridae. The largest of the noddies, it can be told from the closely related black noddy by its larger size and plumage, which is dark brown rather than black. The brown noddy is a tropical seabird with a worldwide distribution, ranging from Hawaii to the Tuamotu Archipelago and Australia in the Pacific Ocean, from the Red Sea to the Seychelles and Australia in the Indian Ocean and in the Caribbean to Tristan da Cunha in the Atlantic Ocean. The brown noddy is colonial, usually nesting on elevated situations on cliffs or in short trees or shrubs. It only occasionally nests on the ground. A single egg is laid by the female of a pair each breeding season. In India, the brown noddy is protected in the PM Sayeed Marine Birds Conservation Reserve.[2]

Taxonomy

The first formal description of the brown noddy was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Sterna stolida.[3] The genus Anous was introduced by the English naturalist James Francis Stephens in 1826.[4] The genus name Anous is Ancient Greek for "stupid" or "foolish". The specific name stolidus is Latin and also means "stupid" or "foolish".[5]

Four subspecies are recognised:[6]

A. s. pileatus (Scopoli, 1786) - Red Sea, Indian Ocean east through the Pacific to Hawaii & Easter Island
A. s. galapagensis Sharpe, 1879 - Galápagos Islands
A. s. ridgwayi Anthony, 1898 - islands off western Mexico to Costa Rica
A. s. stolidus (Linnaeus, 1758) - islands of the Caribbean and tropical Atlantic

Description

The brown noddy is 38–45 cm (15–18 in) in length with a wingspan of 75–86 cm (30–34 in). The plumage is a dark chocolate-brown with a pale-grey or white crown and forehead. It has a narrow incomplete white eye-ring.[7] The tail is long and wedge-shaped, and the feet and legs are dark.[8]
Behaviour
Breeding

The brown noddy is a colonial bird, usually nesting on cliffs, trees, or bushes. It occasionally lays its eggs on the bare ground. The nest itself is usually a platform nest, made of sticks and twigs.[9]

In their nuptial displays, the female and male bow and nod to each other. Courtship feeding and flights accompany this, in addition to the transfer of a small, freshly caught fish from the male to the female.[9]

This bird lays a clutch of one pink cream egg with lilac and chestnut maculation. The egg usually measures around 52 by 35 millimetres (2.0 by 1.4 in). This egg is incubated by both sexes for 33 to 36 days, with each parent incubating for one or two days while their mate is feeding at sea. After the chick hatches, it grows quickly; usually reaching the weight of the parents in three weeks.[9] When it fledges, about six to seven weeks after hatching,[8] it can sometimes weigh more than the parents, although this weight is lost quickly once it starts to fly. At this point, the fledgling is starting to rely on its parents less and less as it learns how to provide for itself.[9]
Diet

The brown noddy forages by swooping over the water and dipping down to catch small squid and fish.[8]

References

BirdLife International (2020). "Anous stolidus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22694794A168889812. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22694794A168889812.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
KA Shaji (13 May 2020). "Lakshadweep gets world's first sea cucumber conservation reserve to curb smuggling into China". Scroll. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Volume 1 (in Latin) (10th ed.). Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii. p. 137.
Stephens, James Francis (1826). General zoology, or Systematic natural history, by George Shaw. Vol. 13. London: G. Kearsley. p. 139. The title page gives the year as 1825.
Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 48, 366. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Noddies, gulls, terns, auks". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
Gochfeld, M.; Burger, J.; Kirwan, G.M.; Garcia, E.F.J. "Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus)". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
Vanner, Michael (2004). The Encyclopedia of North American Birds. Bath, England: Parragon. pp. 164. ISBN 0-75258-734-X.

Hauber, Mark E. (1 August 2014). The Book of Eggs: A Life-Size Guide to the Eggs of Six Hundred of the World's Bird Species. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-226-05781-1.

Sources

"National Geographic" Field Guide to the Birds of North America ISBN 0-7922-6877-6
Harrison, P. Seabirds, an Identification Guide (1983) ISBN 0-7470-1410-8
Sibley, D. A., National Audubon Society, The Sibley Guide to Birds ISBN 0-679-45122-6
Chardine, J.W. and R.D. Morris. 1996. Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus). In: The Birds of North America, No. 220 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.