We were lucky enough to find single Black Noddies on both days of our two day stay in the Dry Tortugas. Careful scanning through hundreds of Brown Noddies Anous stolidas
roosting on the coal pilings on the north side of Garden Key eventually
produced results. Interestingly enough, we found noon to be the best
time on both of the days that we observed these smart looking dark
terns.
Speaking to several other birders, it sounds like we were dead lucky to find Black Noddy and some of the trips that go out to the Dry Tortugas miss them.
These images offer some nice comparisons between Black and Brown
Noddies, and picking out a Black was not as straight forward as might
have been expected. However, good points to look for include the long,
fine bill, sharply contrasting white cap and much smaller body bulk,
leading to a slimmer looking bird. Despite the delicate proportions,
the Black Noddy was decidedly aggressive towards its Brown cousins.
Although this species has occurred as a vagrant on the Gulf coast of
Texas and elsewhere, the Dry Tortugas offer the only realistic chance
of seeing this species in the ABA area.
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