Blue noddy
| Blue noddy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Sternidae |
| Genus: | Procelsterna |
| Species: | P. cerulea |
| Binomial name | |
| Procelsterna cerulea (Bennett, 1840) | |
The blue noddy (Procelsterna cerulea) is a species of tern in the family Sternidae. It is also known as the blue-grey noddy.
It is found in American Samoa, the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Samoa, Tonga (Niua), Tuvalu and Hawaii. It has occurred as a vagrant in Australia and Japan. Its natural habitat is open, shallow seas in tropical and subtropical regions.
There are five listed subspecies:[2]
P. c. saxatilis (Fisher, 1903): Marcus Island & north Marshall Islands to northwest Hawaii
P. c. cerulea (Bennett, 1840): Kiritimati Island & the Marquesas Islands
P. c. nebouxi (Mathews, 1912): Phoenix Islands, Tuvalu, Fiji & the Samoan Islands
P. c. teretirostris (Lafresnaye, 1841):Tuamotu Archipelago, Cook, Austral & Society Islands
P. c. murphyi (Mougin & Naurois, 1981): Gambier Islands (French Polynesia)
The grey noddy (Procelsterna albivitta) replaces it to the south of its range; the two were formerly considered to be a single species but are now often split.
References
- ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Procelsterna cerulea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ "Coursers, noddies, gulls, terns, auks and sandgrouse". International Ornithological Congress. Retrieved 2015-01-10.