Relationship between nest sites of common terns and vegetation on the Eastern Headland, Toronto Outer Harbour

1978 ◽  
Vol 56 (9) ◽  
pp. 2057-2061 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Blokpoel ◽  
P. M. Catling ◽  
G. T. Haymes
Keyword(s):  
Great Majority ◽  
Common Tern ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Vegetative Cover ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Study Plot ◽  
Common Terns

The distribution of common tern (Sterna hirundo) nests relative to vegetation and objects (rocks and sticks) was studied on the Eastern Headland of the Toronto Outer Harbour in 1977. The vegetative cover in one study plot ranged from 0–10% to 91–100%, with a mean of 16%. In that plot the vegetative cover near nests ranged from 0–10% to 81–90%, with a mean of 44%. In the second study plot where plants were widely scattered, the great majority of the nests were situated next to plants or objects. Possible advantages and disadvantages of this behaviour are briefly discussed.

scholarly journals Floating rafts as breeding habitats for the Common tern, Sterna hirundo. Colonization patterns, abundance and reproductive success in Venice Lagoon

2018 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Coccon ◽  
Stefano Borella ◽  
Nicola Simeoni ◽  
Stefano Malavasi
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Breeding Population ◽  
Venice Lagoon ◽  
Reproductive Period ◽  
Common Tern ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
Common Terns ◽  
Colonization Patterns ◽  
Floating Rafts

The Venice lagoon hosts the 15% of the entire Italian breeding population of Common terns, Sterna hirundo, highlighting the great value of the area for this species. However, in the last 25 years, a substantial decline of Common terns has been detected in the Lagoon, which culminated in 2008. The main causes of this negative trend were the loss of salt marsh habitats, where terns typically breed in the Venice lagoon. This was due to the increase in the mean sea level and the greater frequency of high tides during the reproductive period with consequent flooding of their breeding sites; competition with yellowlegged gulls (Larus michahellis), predation and human disturbance. As a preliminary experimental approach to counter the depletion of the species and favour its recovery, we performed a habitat loss compensation project by setting up four floating rafts (3x2m), covered by two different types of substrate (sandy and vegetal substrate). This was to function as an artificial nesting site safe from flooding, positioned in a protected internal wetland area of the Venice lagoon, Valle Averto (Sourthern Lagoon). We studied the colonization patterns of the rafts and the reproductive success of Common tern breeding pairs during the 2014 and 2015 breeding seasons. We also investigated those environmental and structural variables that could favour the use of the rafts and the nesting success of the species. In both years, the rafts were successfully colonized and used by terns for nesting. Our results also indicated higher temperature, lower rainfall and greater distance from the shore as the main habitat factors favouring the occurrence and the reproductive success of the breeding pairs, while a windrow of dead plants was indicated as the preferred substrate for covering rafts in order to make them more attractive. The results provided some suggestions for successful restoration plans to be developed in similar lagoon areas.

scholarly journals Some Population Aspects of Common Tern Sterna hirundo Breeding in Algeria at a Small Mediterranean Island (East Coast of Algeria)

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-69
Author(s):  
Mohamed Dhaya El-Hak Khemis ◽  
Lamia Boutabia ◽  
Kamilia Farhi ◽  
Ali Elafri ◽  
Asma Kahli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Hatching Success ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Shape Index ◽  
Common Tern ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Common Terns ◽  
Mediterranean Island ◽  
Mussel Shells

Abstract We present the first detailed study of population dynamics, breeding biology and egg measurement of Common Terns. During six years (from 2004 to 2009) of monitoring, from mid-May to mid-August, 74 Common Terns individual were recorded at Laouinet small island, El Tarf, northeast of Algeria, witha finite population growth rate that indicated an alarming population decline(λ = -0.62: Lambda). Sterna hirundo build its nests (n = 37) in the northeast at a mean distance of 7.58 m from the closest edge of rocks. The nests were closed and ovoid, constituted mainly of mussel shells Sandpit, stems and leaves. Incubation was performed by pairs of common tern and lasted 25.5 ±3.4 days. We recorded a clutch size of 1 to 3 eggs with mean clutch size of 2.45±0.65 (41.24±0.83 × 30.46±0.62 mm). The egg parameters (volume, mass, shape index) varied between the six years of the study. The egg volume (19.24±0.87) depended more on egg width (30.46±0.62), however the egg shape (0.73±0.20) depended negatively on the egg length (41.24±0.83) but not on the egg width. Our results also showed a stabilized hatching success and a best estimation of breeding success. The hatching success did not vary between years: 70.5% in 2004, 68.75% in 2005, 71.42% in 2006, 71.42% in 2007, 69.23% in 2008 and 69.23% in 2009.

Consequences of variation in brood size on the allocation of parental care in common terns (Sterna hirundo)

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (10) ◽  
pp. 2411-2413 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Wiggins
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Common Tern ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Foraging Effort ◽  
Common Terns ◽  
Care Patterns

Data on the behaviour of common tern (Sterna hirundo) parents were analyzed to document shifts in parental care patterns with changes in brood size. The primary roles of the sexes, chick feeding by males, and brood attendance by females, did not change with shifts in brood size. Rather, parents simply altered the amount of care provided. One-chick broods received more parental attendance at the nest site than both two- and three-chick broods, likely as a result of the increased foraging effort of two- and three-chick parents. The number of chick feeds per hour increased significantly with each increase in brood size, but the number of feeds of each chick per hour did not. Thus, although parents increased their foraging effort with increasing brood size, the net effect was that chicks in all brood sizes were fed at similar rates.

Shell thickness, DDE levels in eggs, and reproductive success in common terns (Sterna hirundo), in Alberta

1971 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Switzer ◽  
Victor Lewin ◽  
Fred H. Wolfe
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Shell Thickness ◽  
Avian Species ◽  
Common Tern ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Eggshell Thickness ◽  
Large Measure ◽  
Common Terns ◽  
The Common ◽  
Comprehensive Study

A comprehensive study of reproductive success of an isolated colony of common terns (Sterna hirundo) reveals that DDE, the principal chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide found in the terns, cannot be correlated to eggshell thickness. The low reproductive success observed was attributed in large measure to disappearance of eggs and nest abandonment, responsible for 76% of the failures, while cracked or broken eggs accounted for only 16%. It is suggested that the direct correlation of DDE to eggshell thickness, implicated in the reproductive failure of other avian species, may be an oversimplification in the case of the common tern.

scholarly journals Common Terns Sterna hirundo incubating a Red-necked Grebe Podiceps grisegena egg

Ornis Svecica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 53-59
Author(s):  
Lars Bern
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequencing ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Behavioural Response ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Egg Discrimination ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Common Terns ◽  
Natural Nest ◽  
Species Assignment ◽  
Podiceps Grisegena

During a study of Red-necked Grebes Podiceps grisegena in Lake Slagsmyren, Sweden, a pair of Common Terns Sterna hirundo were observed to have placed their two eggs on a deserted, floating nest of a Red-necked Grebe. Prior to this, the grebes had laid one egg of their own in the nest and this egg was included by the terns in their clutch and incubated by them. The species assignment of the odd egg was confirmed with DNA sequencing. A lack of natural nest sites for the terns to use at the lake could have caused this somewhat unusual choice of a nest site. I discuss possible explanations for adopting a foreign egg, including the adaptive behavioural response to roll an egg into the nest bowl to salvage lost eggs, the incubation stimulus that foreign eggs or egg-like objects potentially provide, and the limited egg discrimination abilities of Common Terns. The incubation of a foreign egg may reasonably be assumed to cost energy but to be of little benefit, if any, to the incubator.

Herring Gulls and Common Terns as Possible Predators of Lobster Larvae

1957 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 729-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. Mills
Keyword(s):  
Common Tern ◽  
Larus Argentatus ◽  
Herring Gull ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Herring Gulls ◽  
Common Terns

Herring gulls (Larus argentatus) and common terns (Sterna hirundo) were collected in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence when lobster larvae were abundant. No lobster larvae were found in 36 herring gull stomachs and only one in 15 common tern stomachs.

scholarly journals Area use and important areas for Common Tern Sterna hirundo inland populations breeding in Slovenia and Croatia

Acrocephalus ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (180-181) ◽  
pp. 55-67
Author(s):  
Davorin Tome ◽  
Miloš Martinović ◽  
Jelena Kralj ◽  
Luka Božič ◽  
Tilen Basle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Common Tern ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
Common Terns ◽  
River Bed ◽  
Straight Line ◽  
Breeding Grounds ◽  
Distant Location ◽  
Drava River ◽  
Narrow Area

AbstractDuring the breeding periods of 2018 and 2019 we investigated the extent of areas Common Terns Sterna hirundo use while searching for food. We used GPS-UHF tags to follow the movements of 23 terns from Slovenia (7 individuals) and Croatia (16 individuals). We investigated the movements of birds from three breeding sites, i.e. Lakes Ptuj, Siromaja 2 and Rakitje. Conclusions are based on 43,105 locations which were collected with a frequency of one reading per 20 minutes during the day and one reading per 4 hours during the night.In Slovenia, terns used a 60 km long and narrow area over Stara struga Drave (former river-bed of the Drava River) between Ormož and Maribor as well as eleven fishponds / lakes in its surroundings, most of them in the Pesnica valley. The most distant location was 30 km of straight line from breeding islands, but it was visited only once by a single tern. The areas with the most locations, hence important areas, were Lake Ptuj, Drava at Ptuj, Stara struga Drave between Ptuj and Rošnja and about 20 km distant Lakes Radehova and Gradiško. These were probably the most important feeding areas for Common Terns breeding on Lake Ptuj. In Croatia, terns were found along the Sava almost exclusively, with only a few visits more than 2 km from the river. The most distant locations were over 60 km away from the breeding grounds, but terns visited them only rarely. Most locations of terns nesting on Siromaja were within a 5 km radius, while terns from Rakitje were making regular flights to waters up to 23 km from their colony. The area with the most locations visited by terns from both colonies was the Sava at Hrušćica. Besides, birds from the Rakitje colony were frequently recorded on the Sava near Savica and waterbodies within 5 km of the colony. These were probably the most important feeding areas for Common Terns breeding around Zagreb.

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