It is found near the coastlines of Comoros, Kenya, India, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Somalia, Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates.

[2] The close relationship between the two species was confirmed by a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2016.

[3] The first formal description of the lesser noddy was by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1823 under the binomial name Sterna tenuirostris.

[4][5] The genus Anous was introduced by the English naturalist James Francis Stephens in 1826.

This species is smaller and slightly paler than the similar black noddy and has pale rather than dark lores.