SINCE 1828
sooty tern
nounDefinition of sooty tern
: a widely distributed tern (Sterna fuscata) of tropical oceans that is blackish above and white below
— called also wideawake
Examples of sooty tern in a Sentence
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Most likely from bird droppings; a whole colony of sooty terns had taken up residence among the cliffs surrounding the lake. — Jill Kiedaisch, Popular Mechanics, "A Young Island in the South Pacific Oozes Mysteries and Mud," 5 Feb. 2019 Gilardi periodically comes to Wake to study the migratory seabirds, like the sooty terns, that stop here on their journey across the ocean. — CBS News, "Wake Island: Where America's day really begins," 14 Jan. 2018 The photo this week is of a sooty tern by Jeff Lemons Tropical systems are well known for their ability to displace seabirds caught up in the center of rotation. — Taylor Piephoff, charlotteobserver, "Look what the hurricane blew in," 22 Sep. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sooty tern.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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