sooty tern
noun
: a widely distributed tern (Onychoprion fuscatus) of tropical oceans that is blackish above and white below
called also wideawake
Examples of sooty tern in a Sentence
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Migratory birds stop at the island in the spring and fall, and several species breed there, including sooty terns and laughing gulls.
—
Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Dec. 2024
Bush Key closes every year from February to September so that sooty terns and brown noddies can breed there undisturbed.
10.
—Cnn.com, The Mercury News, 26 Feb. 2024
As part of the annual rite, men would climb down the volcano’s 1,000-foot cliffs and swim into the sea to a nearby islet, racing to be the first to return to the village with an egg of a migratory bird, the sooty tern.
—Mark Johanson, Travel + Leisure, 19 Jan. 2024
From March through September, almost 80,000 sooty terns and roughly 5,000 brown noddies reside on the smaller islands, building their nests and tending to their newly hatched young.
—Latria Graham, Travel + Leisure, 19 Jan. 2024
Now, Mann and her colleagues are left with an entirely different challenge: how to bring back the seabirds that have long since abandoned Lehua Island, including the ʻuaʻu (Hawaiian petrel), ‘ewa‘ewa (sooty tern) and hinaokū (blue-gray noddy).
—Tim Lydon, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Apr. 2023
Bush Key closes every year from February to September so that sooty terns and brown noddies can breed there undisturbed. 10.
—Marnie Hunter, CNN, 5 Mar. 2023
The 16-acre Bush Key is an undeveloped island where up to 80,000 sooty terns and 4,500 brown noddies take up residence during the breeding season (February to September).
—Skye Sherman, Travel + Leisure, 20 Feb. 2023
On Bush Key, the park protects a rookery of up to 80,000 nesting sooty terns; this is the only significant nesting ground for the tropical species in the continental U.S.
—National Geographic, 30 Jan. 2018
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Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Dec. 2024
Bush Key closes every year from February to September so that sooty terns and brown noddies can breed there undisturbed.
10.
—Cnn.com, The Mercury News, 26 Feb. 2024
As part of the annual rite, men would climb down the volcano’s 1,000-foot cliffs and swim into the sea to a nearby islet, racing to be the first to return to the village with an egg of a migratory bird, the sooty tern.
—Mark Johanson, Travel + Leisure, 19 Jan. 2024
From March through September, almost 80,000 sooty terns and roughly 5,000 brown noddies reside on the smaller islands, building their nests and tending to their newly hatched young.
—Latria Graham, Travel + Leisure, 19 Jan. 2024
Now, Mann and her colleagues are left with an entirely different challenge: how to bring back the seabirds that have long since abandoned Lehua Island, including the ʻuaʻu (Hawaiian petrel), ‘ewa‘ewa (sooty tern) and hinaokū (blue-gray noddy).
—Tim Lydon, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Apr. 2023
Bush Key closes every year from February to September so that sooty terns and brown noddies can breed there undisturbed. 10.
—Marnie Hunter, CNN, 5 Mar. 2023
The 16-acre Bush Key is an undeveloped island where up to 80,000 sooty terns and 4,500 brown noddies take up residence during the breeding season (February to September).
—Skye Sherman, Travel + Leisure, 20 Feb. 2023
On Bush Key, the park protects a rookery of up to 80,000 nesting sooty terns; this is the only significant nesting ground for the tropical species in the continental U.S.
—National Geographic, 30 Jan. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Sooty tern.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sooty%20tern. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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