The blue noddy or ''hinaokū'' or ''manuohina'' (''Anous cerulea'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. It is also known as the blue-grey noddy. It is found in American Samoa, the Cook Islands,

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

, Kiribati, Marshall Islands,

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

, Samoa, Tonga (Niua), Tuvalu and Hawaii. It has occurred as a

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Its natural habitat is open, shallow seas in tropical and subtropical regions.

Taxonomy

The first formal description of the blue noddy was by Frederick Debell Bennett in 1840 under the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Sterna cerulea''. The specific name ''cerulea'' is Latin for "dark blue". The blue noddy was formerly placed in the genus ''Procelsterna''. A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2016 found that the five noddies formed a single

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

with the blue noddy and the grey noddy in ''Procelsterna'' nested between the species in the genus ''Anous''. The authors proposed that the noddies should be merged into a single genus ''Anous'' and that ''Procelsterna'' should be considered as a

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

. A seabird observed at Necker Island, the French Frigate Shoals, and Nihoa during a cruise through the

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or Leeward Hawaiian Islands are a series of islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest (in some cases, far to the northwest) of the islands of Kauai and Niihau. Politically, they are all p ...

by the United States Fish Commission

research ship A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

in 1902 originally was thought to be new to science and was given the

scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Procelsterna saxatalis'' and the popular name Necker Island tern. It later was reclassified as a subspecies of the blue noddy. There are five

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

: *''A. c. saxatilis'' (Fisher, 1903): Marcus Island & north Marshall Islands to the

*''A. c. cerulea'' (Bennett, 1840): Kiritimati Island & the Marquesas Islands *''A. c. nebouxi'' ( Mathews, 1912): Phoenix Islands, Tuvalu,

& the Samoan Islands *''A. c. teretirostris'' ( Lafresnaye, 1841): Tuamotu Archipelago, Cook, Austral & Society Islands *''A. c. murphyi'' (Mougin & Naurois, 1981): Gambier Islands (

) The grey noddy (''Anous albivitta'') replaces it to the south of its range; the two were formerly considered to be a single species but are now often split.

Description

The blue noddy is in length and has a wingspan of .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q76500 blue noddy Birds of Hawaii Birds of the Pacific Ocean Natural history of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands blue noddy blue noddy Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN