Few people are lucky enough to see this graceful tern with its elegant tail streamers.

Species Description:

The Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii) is a slender, medium-sized seabird with a forked tail flanked by streamers. In breeding plumage it is silvery-grey above and white below, the roseate color of its under side is rarely visible. It has a black cap, orange legs, and a black bill which may be reddish at the base. In non-breeding plumage, the legs and bill are black, and the tail loses its streamers. It nests on coastal islands in colonies, concealing its nest under grass, driftwood, or other flotsam. Both parents take part in brooding, feeding, and fledging the young. Roseates are quick to abandon a colonial site that is disturbed by predators.

Distribution:

Atlantic Canada is at the northern limit of the Roseate Tern’s northeastern breeding range. There are only a few remaining sites where they breed regularly in substantial numbers: three off Nova Scotia and the other off Iles de la Madeleine. There are other scattered colonies along the coast of Maine and south to Long Island. They winter off the coast of South America where they roost on sand bars, leaving themselves vulnerable to human predation.

Threats:

The Roseate Tern was listed as threatened in 1986 by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Its breeding population has a restricted breeding range and is concentrated on a limited number of sites; they are vulnerable to any adverse event at the site that could eliminate a significant proportion of their numbers. Predation by gulls, human disturbance, pollution, and depletion of their prey species are all threats to them on their breeding range, but these may not account for their drop in numbers. The practice of roosting on sand bars on their wintering grounds leaves them vulnerable to trapping for food for indigenous populations, and they may face other problems during migration and on the wintering grounds.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Avoid disturbing any sea bird colony.

More information can be found on Ted d'Eon's home page.