Common tern – Sterna hirundo
The Common tern is part of the Laridae family (Larus is Latin for seabird), commonly known as the “Sea Swallow”. Jersey being the main breeding site for the bird in the Channel Islands, with it breeding only in small numbers or occasionally on the other Channel Islands. Historical Jersey records are: 200 pairs in 1916, 85 pairs in 1969, and in 2000 numbers were in decline at 174 pairs, the Ecrehous being the main colony with small numbers on Jersey itself at Elizabeth Castle and Le Hocq, in recent years all these sites have faced problems of habitat lose, extreme weather, disturbance, predation and abandonment.
With the Ecrehous reef becoming an increasing popular place for visitors from Jersey and nearby France with several hundred visitors on a daily basis in the summer, this has added pressure and problems to birds trying to breed and raise their young at the reef, and in recent years the birds have had poor breeding seasons or abandoned the reef totally as in 2007 and 2008, this resulted in the Common tern becoming red listed in a report on the status of Jersey birds in 2011.
This year the birds arrived at Les Ecrehous in late April after wintering in west Africa a distance of 3,500 miles, and once here they were successful in breeding and nesting, with some 80 nests in total being counted, with 30 nests on Marmotier around the flagpole, and some areas were successful in raising a good number of chicks, but other areas suffered with only a few chicks surviving, due most likely to human disturbance, also some birds nested later than normal these birds were presumably engaging in a second attempt at nesting, this was probably due to the loss of their previous nests. Early in the season birds were coming back to sites with sand eels for their partners and then chicks, it was interesting to see that size of the sand eel had usually been selected to match the size of the chick, later in the season the diet consisted more of other species including small pollack, pipefish, sprats, and squid. Due to the number of birds and the small safe areas left for nesting there was some competition for space within the sites, and chicks wandering into other territories would be warned off by neighbouring adults. Raptors were seen passing on a couple of occasions and were mobbed and escorted away by the terns.
Roseate Tern August 2019
On June 13th a large number of Sandwich terns appeared at the Ecrehous, the species had formerly nested at the reef in small numbers, but the taking of eggs by a resident in the 80’s resulted in abandonment of the reef as a nesting site. It is unsure where this year’s birds had come from, but possibly up to 3 Roseate terns and a Little tern were observed amongst them, the Roseate being known as the last of the tern species to return from over wintering in West Africa, it is not sure if these birds stayed around but it is thought so as in August two Roseate terns were observed on Marmotier amongst the nesting Common terns, one bird being identified by having been ringed on each leg, both birds were active in trying to rob the Common adults and chicks of their food, a known practice of the species. Observers were often alerted to the bird due to its distinctive call which differs to that of the Common and Sandwich terns, and with it also being difficult to differentiate visually between a Common tern. The Roseate is Britain’s rarest breeding seabird, once found in every county, now there are only four core colonies left in Europe, these being in Ireland, UK and Brittany, so to observe the individuals here for such a period of time and in company of other breeding terns was a rare event, and certainly a first in modern times for Jersey, and it is hoped that they will return again in 2020 and perhaps even breed here, the birds conservation status is Internationally red listed, and there are a number of projects to improve and restore the Roseate sites in Southern Ireland, England, and Brittany the only place in France where the birds nest. These projects include the use of wardens and nesting boxes to offer the birds protection
Historically the tern species suffered when the birds feathers became popular for use in the hat trade, and the white tern feathers were highly sought after as was the ear feathers of theGreat crested grebe which was almost shot to extinction, and it was not until the start of the 20th century that protection for birds came into place and birds re-established themselves.
In the 1920’s it was the Lady of Rozel Manor Mrs Yvonne Robin 1892-1948 who did a great deal for bird protection at Les Ecrehous earning her the title “La Dame aux Oiseaux”
In modern times the Ecrehous has been designated a site of international importance becoming a Ramsar site in 2005, and more recently a National Park.
Common tern facts:
Eggs take 21 to 25 days to incubate, with both parents sitting on the eggs.
Chicks fledge at around 22-28 days old
Juveniles remain in West Africa for their first year, and become reproductively mature at 3 years
Average lifespan is 12 years the oldest British bird recorded is 25 years old.
Nicolas Jouault 
