We report the first documented record for the Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus) in New Mexico and the fourth for the region of the southern Rocky Mountains and trans-Pecos Texas, The bird was found dead in moderately fresh condition on 8 July 2010 in the Laguna Grande area, near Carlsbad, Eddy County. It was brought to the Museum of Southwestern Biology where it was preserved as a study skin. A DNA analysis comparing the sequence of the specimen's mitochondrial control region to a published population-genetic dataset on this species found that the sequence of the New Mexico tern was a perfect match with previously sequenced haplotypes from Puerto Rico and Ascension Island and-2% divergent on average from all Sooty Terns previously sequenced from the Pacific and Indian oceans. Measurements of the specimen are consistent with a Caribbean origin. We surmise that this individual was carried inland from the Gulf of Mexico to southeastern New Mexico by the remnants of Hurricane Alex.

The Sooty Tern (Onychoprion fuscatus) is a seabird that nests on tropical and subtropical islands worldwide (Schreiber et al. 2002). Although the species typically remains at sea, it is known to wander widely, often in association with tropical storms (eg, Dickerman et al. 1998, Hockey et al. 2005, Robin and Sudheendra Rao 2005). In this baper, we describe a Sooty Tern specimen that was salvaged far inland in the southwestern United States and that represents one of only a few records for the region. We attempt to identify the natal origins of this specimen by comparing its mitochondria1 DNA and measurements to those of Sodty Terns from potential source populations in the central Pacific Ocean, the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the central Atlantic Ocean. We also consider weather that may have driven this bird inland.