Black Noddy Anous minutus 玄燕鷗
Category I. Accidental.
IDENTIFICATION
Jun. 2017, Michelle and Peter Wong.
35-40 cm. Tern-like seabird, similar in size to Sterna terns in HK, with wedge-shaped tail (pointed when closed). Blackish-brown plumage apart from greyish-white forecrown that contrasts strongly with nape. Lores black, orbital ring white. Wings longer than tail at rest.
Juveniles are paler than adults and have narrow pale fringes to the upperpart feathers when fresh and an extensive pale forehead and crown. Darker than juvenile Brown Noddy with narrower pale fringes to upperparts and more extensive pale crown.
Jun. 2017, John and Jemi Holmes
Compared to Brown Noddy, smaller, slimmer and darker with a noticeably thinner and relatively longer bill (greater than length of the head) that has only a slightly curved tip. The forehead is whiter and more contrasting, while the black lores usually have a straight upper border.
VOCALISATIONS
Slightly nasal and somewhat melodious modulated rattle, higher in pitch than Brown Noddy.
DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT PREFERENCE
The sole record was present among a colony of terns breeding on a rocky islet.
OCCURRENCE
One on Kung Chau during 18-19 June 2017 (Lewthwaite et al. 2019)
BEHAVIOUR, FORAGING & DIET
No information.
RANGE & SYSTEMATICS
Seven subspecies are recognised, of which four are candidates for occurrence in Hong Kong. The four are worcesteri, minutus, marcusi and melanogenys, which breed in the Pacific Ocean from northeast Australia north and east as far as Hawaii. The two closest to Hong Kong are A.m. worcesteri and A.m. marcusi.
Breeds on tropical and subtropical islands and islets in Atlantic and Pacific Oceans between 30oN and 30oS (Gauger 2020). In China it is accidental in Taiwan (Ding et al. 2020).
CONSERVATION STATUS
IUCN: Least Concern. Population trend decreasing.
Gauger, V. H. (2020). Black Noddy (Anous minutus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.blknod.01
Ding, T. S, C. S. Juan, R. S. Lin, Y. J. Tsai, J. L. Wu, J. Wu and Y. H. Yang. (2020). The 2020 CWBF Checklist of the Birds of Taiwan. Bird Record Committee, Chinese Wild Bird Federation. Downloaded from https://www.bird.org.tw/report/2020/english
Lewthwaite, R. W., L. C. H. Wan and M. C. Woo (2019). Black Noddy Anous minutus on Kung Chau, Tap Mun: the first Hong Kong record. Hong Kong Bird Report 2017: 247-251.
