As the weather warms up over the next few months, keep an eye out for the return of the common tern
Often nicknamed the sea-swallow, the common tern is one of several bird species that make the Solent so special. These silvery-grey and white birds are agile flyers, swooping and diving into the water to catch small fish. Common terns have a distinctive forked tail similar to their land-based namesakes the swallows, and boast an orangey-red beak with a black tip.
Population numbers have shown moderate declines in recent years, and the UK conservation status of common terns is currently rated as ‘amber’ due to falling breeding levels centered at just a few locations. Nesting in small colonies along the coast and a few inland sites, terns are predominantly a bird of summer with birds departing for warmer climes in the winter. However, it is important that we understand their migration habits and winter grounds so that terns can prosper whilst resident on our shores.
The County Council’s nature reserve at Lymington and Keyhaven hosts an important common tern breeding colony, offering an optimal environment of gravel islands in coastal pools. We are supported in our ecological work by volunteer bird ringers who are specially trained by the British Trust for Ornithology. Ringers fit small metal bands to the bird’s legs, each with their own unique number which allows us to track movements when birds are caught or found elsewhere.
For some birds, including younger chicks, the tagging process involves a coloured, numbered ring that can be read at a distance without catching the bird. In June 2021, a newly fledged fluffy tern was tagged at Lymington and given its own unique ring marked as Green A11. Just a few weeks later, the bird had grown sufficiently to fly south independently on its winter migration. Green A11 was spotted 278 days later on the coast of Senegal in West Africa, a site 4,099 km away from the Solent at the Langue du Barbarie National Park, a thin sandy peninsular on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Many seabirds that visit our coast in the summer months, will spend the winter in warmer climates such as this, giving them access to plenty of fish which prepares them for their long return journey.
The typical lifespan of a common tern is around 12 years, however the oldest recorded is just over 33 years old. This is all vital information we can only get thanks to the local volunteering efforts of bird ringers and is particularly important as we seek to understand the impact of climate change on wildlife. Who knows, perhaps Green A11 will be the next record breaker?
About the author
Andrew Davidson, is a natural environment officer with Hampshire Countryside Service. The service looks after many of Hampshire’s major country parks and National Nature Reserves, as well as some heritage monuments, local recreational spaces, and large areas of common land. It also manages Hampshire’s 3,000 miles of public rights of way.
