Kaveka
| Sooty tern | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Onychoprion fuscatus nubilosus (or O. f. oahuensis) on Tern Island (French Frigate Shoals) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Laridae |
| Genus: | Onychoprion |
| Species: | O. fuscatus |
| Binomial name | |
|
Onychoprion fuscatus (Linnaeus, 1766) |
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| Subspecies | |
|
2-9, see text |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Onychoprion fuscata (lapsus) |
|
2-9, see text
Onychoprion fuscata (lapsus)
Sterna fuscata Linnaeus, 1766
Sterna fuscata fuscata Linnaeus, 1766
Sterna fuscata nubilosa
and see text
The sooty tern (Onychoprion fuscatus) is a seabird in the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans, breeding on islands throughout the equatorial zone.
The sooty tern was described by Linnaeus in 1766 as Sterna fuscata, bearing this name for many years until the genus Sterna was split up. It is now known as Onychoprion fuscatus. The genus name is from Ancient Greek onux, "claw", and "prion", nail. The specific fuscatus is Latin for "dark".
Colloquially, it is known as the wideawake tern or just wideawake. This refers to the incessant calls produced by a colony of these birds, as does the Hawaiian name ʻewa ʻewa which roughly means "cacophony". In most of Polynesia its name is manutara or similar – literally "tern-bird", though it might be better rendered in English as "the tern" or "common tern". This refers to the fact that wherever Polynesian seafarers went on their long voyages, they usually would find these birds in astounding numbers. It is also known as kaveka in the Marquesas Islands, where dishes using its eggs are a delicacy.
The Sooty Tern has little interspecific variation, but it can be divided into at least two allopatric subspecies. Some recent authors further subdivide the Indopacific population into up to 8 subspecies altogether, but much of the variation is really clinal. The affinities of eastern Pacific birds (including the famous manutara of Easter Island) are most strongly contested.
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