Little tern

 This delightful chattering seabird is the UK's smallest tern. It is short-tailed and has a fast flight. Its bill is a distinctive yellow with a black tip. It is noisy at its breeding colony where courtship starts with an aerial display involving the male calling and carrying a fish to attract a mate, which chases him up high before he descends, gliding with wings in a 'V'.

TheLittle Tern (Sternula albifrons) is a seabird of thetern family Sternidae. It was formerly placed into the genus Sterna, which now is restricted to the large white terns . The former North American (S. a. antillarum) and Red Sea S. a. saundersi subspecies are now considered to be separate species, the Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) and Saunders's Tern(Sternula saundersi).

                                            

Its vulnerable nesting sites and its decline in Europe make it an Amber List species. It is also listed as a Schedule 1 species in The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

Description

This bird breeds on the coasts and inland waterways of temperate and tropical Europe and Asia. It is strongly migratory, wintering in the subtropical and tropical oceans as far south as South Africa and Australia.

There are three subspecies, the nominate albifrons occurring in Europe to North Africa and western Asia; guineae of western and central Africa; and sinensis of East Asia and the north and east coasts of Australia (Higgins and Davies, 1996).

                                        

This is a small tern, 21-25 cm long with a 41-47 cm wingspan.

It is not likely to be confused with other species, apart from Fairy Tern and Saunders's Tern, because of its size and white forehead in breeding plumage.

Its thin sharp bill is yellow with a black tip and its legs are also yellow. In winter, the forehead is more extensively white, the bill is black and the legs duller.

The call is a loud and distinctive creaking noise.

Where and when to see them

                                  

                               

Little terns are a strictly coastal species found around the UK coastline at suitable breeding beaches. The largest colonies are found along the east and south coasts of Scotland and England at sites which include Blakeney Point and Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, Minsmere, Suffolk and Langstone Harbour, Hampshire.

Breeding / Nesting

The Little Tern breeds in colonies on gravel or shingle coasts and islands. It lays two to four eggs on the ground.

                                   

Like all white terns, it is defensive of its nest and young and will attack intruders.

Diet / Feeding

Like most other white terns, the Little Tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish, usually from saline environments.

                                

The offering of fish by the male to the female is part of the courtship display.