Onychoprion

Onychoprion
	Sooty tern, Onychoprion fuscatus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Laridae
Subfamily:	Sterninae
Genus:	Onychoprion; Wagler, 1832
Type species
	Sterna serrata;
Species
	Onychoprion lunatus; Onychoprion anaethetus; Onychoprion fuscatus; Onychoprion aleuticus

Onychoprion, the "brown-backed terns", is a genus of seabirds in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek onux, "claw" or "nail", and prion, "saw".^[2]

Species

Although the genus was first described in 1832 by Johann Georg Wagler the four species in the genus were until 2005 retained in the larger genus Sterna, the genus that holds most terns.^[3]

Three of the four species are tropical, and one has a sub-polar breeding range. The sooty tern has a pan-tropical distribution; the bridled tern also breeds across the Tropical Atlantic and Indian Ocean but in the central Pacific it is replaced by the spectacled tern. The Aleutian tern breeds around Alaska and Siberia but winters in the tropics around South East Asia.

Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
Onychoprion lunatus	Spectacled tern	tropical Pacific Ocean
Onychoprion anaethetus	Bridled tern	Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Pacific Ocean, western Indian Ocean, Caribbean and West Africa.
Onychoprion fuscatus	Sooty tern	Red Sea across Indian Ocean to at least central Pacific.
Onychoprion aleuticus	Aleutian tern	Alaska and easternmost Siberia to Australia

Manutara is the Rapa Nui language name for spectacled and sooty terns. Both arrive at Easter Island and hatch their eggs on the island called Motu Nui, an event that was used for an annual rite called Tangata manu.

References

^ "Laridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 282. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
^ Bridge, E. S.; Jones, A. W. & Baker, A. J. (2005). A phylogenetic framework for the terns (Sternini) inferred from mtDNA sequences: implications for taxonomy and plumage evolution Archived 2006-07-20 at the Wayback Machine. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35: 459–469.

[HM4-1] "Laridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-26.

[job-2] Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 282. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.

[Bridge-3] Bridge, E. S.; Jones, A. W. & Baker, A. J. (2005). A phylogenetic framework for the terns (Sternini) inferred from mtDNA sequences: implications for taxonomy and plumage evolution Archived 2006-07-20 at the Wayback Machine. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35: 459–469.

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