American Samoa,Anguilla,Australia,Bahamas,Barbados,Belize,Benin,Brazil,British Virgin Islands,Cameroon, Canada,Cape Verde,Chile,China,Colombia,Congo,Cook Islands,Costa Rica,Cuba,Denmark, Djibouti,Dominican Republic,Ecuador - Galapagos Islands,Ecuador - mainland,El Salvador,Equatorial Guinea,French Guiana,French Polynesia,Ghana,Guam, Guatemala,Guinea-Bissau,Guyana,Haiti,Honduras,India - Andaman and Nicobar Islands,India - mainland,Indonesia,Ivory Coast,Jamaica, Japan,Kenya,Kiribati,Liberia,Madagascar,Malaysia,Maldives,Marshall Islands,Mauritania,Mauritius, Mexico,Micronesia,Mozambique,Myanmar,Nauru,Netherlands Antilles,New Caledonia,Nicaragua,Nigeria,Northern Mariana Islands, Norway,Oman,Palau,Panama,Papua New Guinea,Peru,Philippines,Pitcairn Islands,Puerto Rico,Reunion, Saint Helena,Saint Lucia,Sao Tome and Principe,Saudi Arabia,Senegal,Seychelles,Sierra Leone,Solomon Islands,Somalia,South Africa, South Sudan,Spain,Sri Lanka,Sudan,Suriname,Taiwan,Tanzania,Thailand,Tokelau,Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago,Tunisia,Turks and Caicos Islands,Tuvalu,United States - Hawaii,United States - mainland,Vanuatu,Venezuela,Vietnam,Virgin Islands, Yemen,Zimbabwe,
IOC 13.1 Subspecies
Group
Subspecies
Breeding Range
fuscatus
islands of Atlantic and marginal seas: Senegal (erratic) and Gulf of Guinea; South Atlantic Ocean to Ascension and St. Helena (tropical se Atlantic Ocean); Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean
nubilosus
islands of Indian Ocean region and subtropical w North Pacific: Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Somalia to Kenya, Europa (w of s Madagascar, Mozambique Channel), Cosmoledo (e Aldabra group, sw Seychelles), Amirantes and smaller Inner Is. (c, ne Seychelles), nw, n,
serratus
islands of tropical and subtropical South Indian and South Pacific oceans: w, n Australia, Torres Strait is., Tench (St. Matthias group, nc Bismarck Arch.), Lord Howe and Norfolk is. (far e of Australia), Kermadec Is. (ne of North I., New Zealand) and the
oahuensis
islands of subtropical and tropical North Pacific: Bonin Is. (=Ogasawara Is., se of Japan) to the Hawaiian Is. s to Kiritimati (Line Is.)
crissalis
islands of subtropical e Pacific: from Rocas Alijos (w of s Baja California), Revillagigedo, Clipperton, and Tres Marias (w of c Mexico), del Coco (far w of Costa Rica), Los Frailes de Sur (off s Panama), Malpelo (far w of Colombia) and Darwin (nw Galápag
luctuosus
islands of subtropical e South Pacific: Salas y Gómez and Desventuradas (far w of n Chile)
Normally seen far from shore, often resting on floating objects. Compare to [Bridled Tern]. There are millions of Sooty Tern in the world, and there are records at inland bodies of water as well.
Africa (entire continent rather than south of Sahara)
AN
Antarctica
AO
Atlantic Ocean
AU
Australasia (Wallacea (Indonesian islands east of Wallace's line), New Guinea and its islands, Australia, New Zealand and its subantarctic islands, the Solomons, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu)
PAL
Eurasia (Europe, Asia from the Middle East through central Asia north of the Himalayas, Siberia and northern China to Japan)
IO
Indian Ocean
LA
Latin America (Middle and South America)
MA
Middle America (Mexico through Panama)
NA
North America (includes the Caribbean)
NO
Northern oceans
OR
Oriental Region (South Asia from Pakistan to Taiwan, plus Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and Greater Sundas)
