Brown-winged Tern 
Sterna anaethetus 
// Obs. - 16+ 
^ QJ- -y» n v-i 
O 0-1 C*.li 
ge 
JT» 
H 
terns began to appear when entering the Fiji faunal area 
northeast or tile Isles de Horne. Skiff collections netted this species 
but since Sooty Tern was present also the status retrained uncertain. In 
most respects the bird is like a "Hybrid" sooty/gray-backed. It is not 
strongly pelagic but is found over open water commonly. It forms only 
small flocks. In the Fiji area it is not a dominant tern but neither is 
it restricted or uncommon. The low, hoarse call is often a useful field 
character. 
Sooty Tern : jr Obs. - 6,264 
Sterna fuscata (See Graphs 10D, TD) 
Sooty Terns were recorded in all 15 pelagic and interisland sections, 
accounting for 45 percent of the total birds. The strong flocking ten¬ 
dency and the dependency on colonial breeding make for a wide range of 
area densities: 
Linear Density 
Ho. Sections 
General Area 
.012 - .028 
3 
Fiji, Washington-Fanning 
.166 - .291 
2 
Worth and south of 12° N. area 
.777 - .887 
4 
”12° W.," "5° W.," southern Line Isla 
1.469 - 1.794 
3 
Jarvis, Hull, Howland 
2.551 
1 
phoenix Islands 
16.480 
1 
Palmyra Island 
1.013 
15 
Occurrence around the breeding islands is variable 
Dyne of Occurrence in Surrounding Waters 
Example s 
Almost absent during day; ) 
Large travelling flocks dawn and dusk) 
Ho offshore feeding flocks ) 
(Hull 1967 
(Starbuck 1967 
( Jarvis 1967 (prebreeding) 
Diurnal offshore feeding flocks ) 
Much flock activity out to 20 miles) 
* 1 
(Jarvis i960 August 
(Howland 
(Christmas 
Feeding flocks relatively distant ) 
Henfeeding flock activity offshore high) 
(May overlap with above category) 
(Phoenix 
(Enderbury 
(McKean 
(Howland 
Widespread, high abundance) Palmyra 
Few large feeding flocks ) 
