Little terns return

Guest blog by Emily Irving-Witt, Lead little tern warden for Suffolk

Little terns

We should feel privileged that little terns (Sterna albifrons), the UK's second rarest breeding tern and an extremely rare breeding seabird, decide to breed on our UK coasts. They grace us with their presence each year from May to September, migrating all the way to our beaches from West Africa, where they spend the winter. You can often see their distinctive feeding behaviour which involves them diving headlong into the waves to catch small fish from just below the surface of the water or picking up small crustaceans from the surface. They even drink whilst in flight, dipping their beaks into the water repeatedly; these aerial habits along with its distinctive forked tail give it the alternative name of ‘sea-swallow’ along with the rest of the tern family. The little tern is picky when it comes to its breeding habitat where it only favours shingle or preferably a mixture of sand and shingle beaches. As the Suffolk coast is full of this type of habitat we have become one of the strongholds for their breeding colonies, which is why we need your help to keep things this way.

What is being done to help?

Little terns are in decline in the UK, partly because they are not able to produce enough chicks to sustain the population. Although Suffolk is a stronghold, even here we have lost a staggering 88% of our breeding terns in the last two decades. Little terns are easily disturbed, which leaves eggs and chicks open to predation and the cold, they are very well camouflaged, which means they can easily be accidentally trodden on. They don’t like dogs and see them as a predator, so fly around them in distress and leave their nest. Severe high tides and stormy weather can also flood nests and chicks.

A five year project funded by EU Life+, RSPB, Natural England, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Touching the Tide and more, aims to halt these declines and develop long term strategies to ensure little terns can continue to breed on our amazing coastlines. Little Tern Wardens are appointed each summer to champion the protection of the colonies and keep people informed on how they can help. Little terns are Schedule 1 birds and therefore protected by law, making it an offence to intentionally disturb them and requiring a license to photograph them when breeding. It is important for the wardens to get these messages across to as many people as possible. The monitoring and protection carried out by the wardens and volunteers is a partnership between many organisations, who work together to ensure the long term recovery of this wonderful bird. Wardens also erect temporary fences around the colonies to further protect them from disturbance and predators. Volunteers are of huge importance to the project as well, many people give up their time to get the message out about the little terns and allow us to keep an eye on the birds for as long as possible.

What you can do to help?

If you would like to aid the recovery of one of the world’s smallest tern then please follow these simply guidelines:

• Keep out of fenced areas and well clear of the birds at all times
• Please keep your dog on a lead when walking near the little tern colonies
• If you see a little tern trying to nest, don’t approach! Let the RSPB know where is is so we can protect the nest
• Do not fly kites or kite-surf near the little tern colonies – terns see kites as birds of prey and are scared off their nests
• Keep an eye out for other nesting shorebirds including ringed plovers that may not be inside an fences
• Become a volunteer and help educate others about little terns
• And finally, reveal in the privilege and enjoyment of watching these characteristic birds

Emily Irving-Witt, Lead little tern warden for the Suffolk coast

If you would like to volunteer with the terns please get in contact with me on:

emily.irving-witt@rspb.org.uk

Sightings of little terns and ringed plover to:

suffolklittleterns@rspb.org.uk