Terns are like gulls but with sharp bits: sharp, slender bills, sharp wingtips and sharp tails with swallow-like forks. Most also have sharply defined black caps. They are lighter on the wing and altogether less bulky, but they are every bit as noisy as gulls. Britain’s terns are summer birds and most depart for West African coastal waters in the autumn. Here are six to spot...
Words by Dominic Couzens
ID GUIDE
COMMON Sterna hirundo
The common tern isn’t quite our most numerous tern but it is, perhaps, the most adaptable. You are as likely to see it on a lake far inland as you are on the coast – it also has a broad diet that can include insects as well as fish. The common tern has a long red bill with a black tip, and rather a flat crown. It is common from April to October, with 11,000 breeding pairs; on Amber List of Conservation Concern.
ROSEATE Sterna dougallii
The roseate tern has a pink breast and belly, but it’s subtle pink at best, and you are often hard-pressed to detect the tint at all. A good way to identify this bird is by the very distinctive call, a disyllabic chewit, like a short and gentle blow of a referee’s whistle. These birds are truly rare in Britain, with 94 breeding pairs. They are mainly found on a few marine islands from May to September.
LITTLE Sternula albifrons
This delicate bird certainly lives up to its name as the smallest of our terns. It has a brilliant white patch on the forehead and, if you get close enough, you will see that it has a yellow bill with a narrow black tip. Another identifying feature is its very odd call, perhaps like a sandwich tern calling while holding its nose.
This is a rare bird in the UK, with 1,500 breeding pairs, seen from April to August.
SANDWICH Thalasseus sandvicensis
Our largest tern, the sandwich tern is the same size as a black-headed gull. It is
