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Black Noddy (Anous minutus) Alternate name(s): "White-capped Noddy", "Titerack" Size: 33-36 cm; wing span ca. 65 cm Body mass: 90-105 g

Australia: Family Group 10 Family Group 10 Table Brown Skua South Polar Skua Arctic Jaeger Pomarine Jaeger Long-tailed Jaeger Pacific Gull Kelp Gull Silver Gull Crested Tern Lesser Crested Tern Caspian Tern Australian Tern Gull-billed Tern White-fronted Tern Black-naped Tern Roseate Tern Antarctic Tern Arctic Tern Common Tern Little Tern Fairy Tern Whiskered Tern White-winged Black Tern Grey Ternlet White Tern Sooty Tern Bridled Tern Aleutian Tern Common Noddy Black Noddy Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Black Noddies are medium-sized, tern-like pelagic birds. They are all blackish-grey with a brown hue, except for a grey cap. The eyes are surrounded by a narrow light-grey eye ring. Bill, legs and feet are black. In-flight, the both upperwings and underwings appear to be all-black. The tail is forked. Juveniles are all blackish-brown, except for narrow light-grey eye-rings, a grey frons and some inconspicuous scalloping on the upperwings. Twitcher's tip Compared to Common Noddies, the Black Noddy is smaller and darker (blacker) in appearance.

Taxonomy, classification See Black Noddy at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Black Noddy is available HERE . There are seven extant races of Black Noddies that, all together, populate the tropical and subtropical seas, especially around islands, with the highest density found in the Pacific Ocean. Black Noddies, race minutus, can reach the Australian continent and offshore islands along its North-East coast in QLD, from about the tip of Cape York peninsula to the area of Brisbane, QLD. Farther South along the Australian coastline their distribution is ill-known. Black Noddies, race minutus, may occasionally enter the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Arafura Sea, where their distribution is also uncertain. On land Black Noddies can be found on beaches of islands or nesting in trees or shrubs. At sea they are usually found relatively close to islands, because they return to their roosts for the night.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "minutus" H. Mouritsen spotted a Black Noddy, race minutus, on One Tree Island, Capricornia Cays NP, near Rockhampton, QLD, in January 2011. B. Hensen reports finding Black Noddies, race minutus, at North Beach, Lord Howe Island, in November 2014. M. Mearns reports spotting Black Noddies, race minutus, on Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, in January 2016. M. Eaton found Black Noddies, race minutus, nesting on Lady Musgrave Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, in September 2017. A mob of Black Noddies, race minutus, was found by M. Eaton at Hervey Bay, QLD, in April 2019. Others were found on Green Island, near Cairns, QLD, in June 2024.

Photos

Race "minutus"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Black Noddy (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lady Musgrave Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, September 2017]

Near-frontal view of a Black Noddy (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lady Musgrave Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, September 2017]

Near-lateral view of a Black Noddy (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lady Musgrave Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, September 2017]

Near-lateral view of a Black Noddy (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lady Musgrave Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, September 2017]

Near-lateral view of a Black Noddy (photo courtesy of H. Mouritsen)
[One Tree Island, Capricornia Cays NP, QLD, January 2011]

Near-lateral view of a Black Noddy (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Green Island, near Cairns, QLD, June 2024]

Lateral view of a Black Noddy (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Green Island, near Cairns, QLD, June 2024]

Close-up lateral view of a Black Noddy (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]

Near-dorsal view of a Black Noddy (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lady Musgrave Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, September 2017]

Mob of Black Noddies on a beach (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]

Mob of Black Noddies on sandy soil (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lady Musgrave Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, September 2017]

Mob of Black Noddies trailing a fishing boat (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Hervey Bay, QLD, April 2019]

Lateral view of a Black Noddy in flight (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[North Beach, Lord Howe Island, November 2014]

Lateral view of a Black Noddy coming in to land on a sandy beach (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[North Beach, Lord Howe Island, November 2014]

View from above onto a Black Noddy in flight (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[North Beach, Lord Howe Island, November 2014]

Direct comparison of Black Noddies, lower left, and Common Noddies, upper right (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Sep - Jan

Eggs: 1

Incubation period: ca. 30? days

Fledging age: ?

The breeding seasons of Black Noddies can vary and the range given above in the table is only an indication of the core period.

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Basket

Material: Seeweed, other plants

Height above ground: 1? - 10? m

Black Noddies nest in colonies.

Black Noddy nest (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lady Musgrave Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, September 2017]

Frontal view of a Black Noddy perched near its nest (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]

Near-frontal view of a Black Noddy on what looks like a nest in the making (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lady Musgrave Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, September 2017]

Black Noddy on its nest (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]

Oi mate! That is close enough...! (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]

Pair of Black Noddies at their nest (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lady Musgrave Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, September 2017]

Pair of Black Noddies at their nest (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]

Example of a Black Noddy breeding colony (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]

(Presumably) the highest-ranking pair of Black Noddies gets to nest at the top of the shrub (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Lady Elliot Island, near Agnes Water, QLD, January 2016]

Small Black Noddy nesting colony in a Norfolk Island Pine tree (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[North Beach, Lord Howe Island, November 2014]

Black Noddy carrying nesting material (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[North Beach, Lord Howe Island, November 2014]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 45 x 31 mm

Colour: Creamy, with grey to black and brown speckles

Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Communal

Mobility: Partially migratory/nomadic

Elementary unit: Mob/flock

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