BLACK NODDY
Anous minutus worcesteri
Family Sternidae

Bird # 315

The Black Noddy is also known as the Philippine Noddy. Its only breeding sites are in the North and South Islets of Tubbataha Reef, plus one other island. They used to breed in Cavili Island but are no longer found there now. The influx of people and their accompanying cats, dogs, and rats have driven the birds out. Sadly, even in the North and South Islets, the Black Noddy is still under threat. The growing Red-footed Booby population competes with the Black Noddies for nesting sites on the limited trees on the islets. The droppings of the Red-footed Boobies are also slowly killing off the trees that the birds nest on.

There are two species of Noddies in the Philippines, the Black Noddy and the Brown Noddy. They are similar-looking. They Black Noddy is slimmer, smaller, and darker than the Brown Noddy. The bill of the Black Noddy is also long, thin, and pincer-like compared to the thicker, slightly curved bill of the Brown Noddy. The Black Noddy measures about 12 1/2 inches long. They have webbed feet. When it is sitting, the wing and tail are equal in length.

There are 7 subspecies of Black Noddy. The one found in the Philippines is the <i>worcesteri</i> race. The Black Noddy was first described as <i>Micranous worcesteri</i> ( McGregor, Phil, Journ. Sci., Sec. D, vol. vi, p. 185, 1911). It was later categorized as a subspecies of Black Noddy. The other Black Noddy subspecies breed over a wide range in the Atlantic, Pacific and even Caribbean. Des Allen says he does not know how distinct the various subspecies are morphologically,  but it would be worth doing a DNA study to see how closely related the different forms are.

Black Noddies nest together in trees. On Bird Islet, they are found mostly on the branches of the Anuling trees at the center of the islet. Their nests are made up of a lot strips of plastic, string, rope and other man-made items.