Brown noddy

Anous stolidus

The brown noddy or common noddy is a seabird related to terns. 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.
Brown Noddy A Brown Noddy blending in with the shrubs behind it. Photographed in Teriaroa, French Polynesia Anous stolidus,Brown noddy,French Polynesia,Geotagged,Winter

Naming

''Anous'' is Greek for "unmindful" , and ''stolidus'' means "impassive" in Latin . The birds are often unwary and find safety in enormous numbers. To sailors, they were well known for their apparent indifference to hunters or predators.There are four subspecies of the brown noddy:

⤷ ''A. s. pileatus'', : Red Sea, Indian Ocean east through the Pacific to Hawaii & Easter Island
⤷ ''A. s. galapagensis'' : Galapagos Islands
⤷ ''A. s. ridgwayi'' : islands off western Mexico to Costa Rica
⤷ ''A. s. stolidus'' : islands of the Caribbean and tropical Atlantic

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassAves
OrderCharadriiformes
FamilyLaridae
GenusAnous
SpeciesA. stolidus