Brown Noddy Anous stolidus Scientific name definitions

Noddies are tropical marine tern-like seabirds that show behavioral and morphological traits more akin to those of gulls than terns. Except around their breeding colonies, the Brown Noddy is seldom seen near land and is highly pelagic, wandering extensively in warm tropical waters where it searches for small fish and squid which are captured by hover-dipping and contact-dipping. There are only three or four species worldwide, the largest and most widespread being the Brown Noddy. Aptly named, this species is indeed brown, and one of its most conspicuous social behaviors is a nodding display. Less appropriate is its scientific name; Anous means “silly” or “without understanding” in Greek, and stolidus means “slow of mind” or “dull” in Latin (Gotch 1981 Gotch, A. F. (1981). Birds: their Latin names explained. Poole, U.K: Blandford Press. Close ). Both words refer to the apparent tameness shown by noddies when approached in the breeding colony, and reflect an old human prejudice that if an animal did not stay out of harm's way, this indicates a lack of intelligence.

Brown Noddies breed in colonies on rocks, islets, and islands in warm seas around the globe to about 30° north or south of the equator, although they penetrate beyond these boundaries in the southern Atlantic Ocean. With their tropical distribution, they breed at only one location near the continental U.S., at Bush Key, Dry Tortugas, Florida (25°N 82°W; Appendix 1). Elsewhere in the Americas and in U.S. territories, they are common breeders through the Caribbean, Pacific Islands of Central America, the Galapagos, and on many islands in Hawaii. They use a wide variety of nesting locations, including the ground, trees, shrubs, cliffs, and human-made structures. Nest structures can vary from non-existent, to scattered arrays of stones, pieces of coral and shells, to elaborate structures of twigs and other vegetation.

Like many other seabirds, this species lays a single egg, takes several years to reach sexual maturity, and experiences high annual survival. This relatively “K-selected” life history differs from that of many other similarly sized terns that feed inshore or breed in temperate or polar regions.