Phenology and breeding ecology of Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) in Bermuda: An ecologically distinctive island population, now critically endangered

Abstract In this paper I report the first instance of a pair of Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) raising young in successive clutches during one breeding season and discuss this phenomenon in relation to male and female incubation and feeding rates and to predation. Five other pairs are noted in which the female and sometimes the male incubated a second clutch while still feeding one young from their first nest.

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Cadmium and lead in common terns (Aves: Sterna hirundo): Relationship between levels in parents and eggs

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment ◽

10.1007/bf00397612 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 253-258 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

Joanna Burger ◽

Michael Gochfeld

Keyword(s):

Sterna Hirundo ◽

Common Terns ◽

Cadmium And Lead

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Jamaica Bay Studies: I. Environmental Determinants of Abundance and Distribution of Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) and Black Skimmers (Rynchops niger) at an East Coast Estuary

Colonial Waterbirds ◽

10.2307/1521047 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. 148 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Joanna Burger

Keyword(s):

East Coast ◽

Sterna Hirundo ◽

Environmental Determinants ◽

Common Terns ◽

Jamaica Bay ◽

Rynchops Niger ◽

Abundance And Distribution

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Contrasting Brood Sizes in Common and Arctic Terns: The Roles of Food Provisioning Rates and Parental Brooding

The Condor ◽

10.1093/condor/103.1.108 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 103 (1) ◽

pp. 108-117

Author(s):

James A. Robinson ◽

Keith C. Hamer ◽

Lorraine S. Chivers

Keyword(s):

Energy Intake ◽

Food Delivery ◽

Metabolizable Energy ◽

Common Tern ◽

Energy Budgets ◽

Breeding Ecology ◽

Common Terns ◽

Sterna Paradisaea ◽

Metabolizable Energy Intake

Abstract Arctic Terns (Sterna paradisaea) and Common Terns (S. hirundo) are similar in many aspects of their breeding ecology, but Common Terns generally lay three eggs per clutch whereas Arctic Terns lay two. In our study, Common Terns had a higher rate of food delivery and energy supply to the nest and higher nest attendance, indicating that they made trips of shorter average duration. This suggests that the number of chicks raised by these two species was primarily limited by the rate at which parents could supply food. However, estimated daily metabolizable energy intake of chicks was about 30% higher in Common Terns than in Arctic Terns. Common Tern chicks apparently spent a higher proportion of daily energy intake on maintenance of body temperature. It remains unknown whether this difference was because Common Tern parents could not brood three chicks as effectively as Arctic Terns brooded two or because the energy requirements for heat production in the third-hatched Common Tern chick were particularly high. If brooding did play a less important role in the energy budgets of Common Terns, the number of chicks that Arctic Terns could raise may have been limited not only by the rate at which parents could supply food to the nest but also by the requirements of chicks for brooding. We suggest that more detailed studies on the role of brooding constraints in limiting brood size in these species are required to clarify this matter.

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Nest taphonomy of common terns (Sterna hirundo) on Poplar Island, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland

Historical Biology ◽

10.1080/08912963.2013.798317 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 155-164 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Paula L. Wang ◽

Frankie D. Jackson ◽

David J. Varricchio

Keyword(s):

Chesapeake Bay ◽

Sterna Hirundo ◽

Common Terns

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

Rivista Italiana di Ornitologia ◽

10.4081/rio.2018.349 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 88 (1) ◽

pp. 23-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

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.

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