Day 231 - Cracking Common Terns

Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) 

Hi all today's Day 231 and I have recently been at Stavely nature reserve where I saw quite a lot of things one of which is a lovely seabird bird that I haven't covered before in a post. I haven't got many photos of these as they were very flighty but hopefully they are good enough for this post. They are such a nice bird to watch and it was entertaining to watch them catch fish. Yes, I am talking about the Common Tern.

So, here are the facts:

• They Summer all over the UK apart from South-West England, Central England, South West Wales, Central Ireland and Central & Southern Scotland.

Effortless gliding

• They are an Amber Status bird with 12,000 breeding pairs in the UK. They are an Amber Status bird as they have a localised breeding population.

• They are most common on Estuaries but they are also found on Shore, Lakes, Ponds, Rivers and, least commonly, streams.

A successful hunt for food

• Have to say I was slightly surprised to see a seabird so far inland but it seems they often breed inland unlike the Arctic Tern.

• They have a huge typical lifespan of 12 years while the oldest was a huge 33 years and 6 days old!

• They have a number of common names. 'Sea Swallow' and 'Darr' as well as 'Tirrick' are some of them.

• Their Latin name Sterna hirundo translates as the Swallow Tern.

Off to hunt again.

• It's a lovely bird to watch flying and hovering looking for fish before they dive to catch one. Fish is their main diet but sometimes they eat crustaceans.

• They have an interesting ring size which is C2. By the way I hope to be going ringing again in July so expect a post on that in a while.

• They 33cm long with a 88cm wingspan. Both Male and Female birds weigh, on average, 130 grams.

• Their wingspan is basically the only way to tell apart the Sandwich Tern, this Tern and Arctic Tern. The Sandwich Tern has a wingspan of 1 metre while this one has an 88cm span and finally the Arctic has a 80cm wing length.

Here are some links to some more information:

RSPB - Common Tern 

BTO Birdfacts - Common Tern 

Birdlife - Common Tern 

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.