Common Tern
Sterna hirundo
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A 'sea swallow' — long tail streamers, a hovering pause, and then a clean vertical plunge.
A slender, elegant, silver-grey and white seabird with a black cap, red bill tipped black, short red legs and long forked tail streamers. Common terns arrive on the Solway in April and nest on shingle, islands and man-made rafts, fishing the estuary and lower Nith through the summer. They are noisy, agile and much lighter in flight than any gull.
Behaviour
Terns fish by quartering into the wind a few metres up, hovering with the bill angled straight down, then plunge-diving to seize small fish just below the surface. Colonies are defended fiercely — terns will dive at and strike the head of anything that approaches, including people. Courting males present fish to females, and the size of the offering matters.
Migration
Common terns winter off West Africa and some travel as far as southern Africa. They arrive back on the Solway in late April, and young birds may stay in African waters for a full year or two before returning to breed.
When to see it
Quick facts
- Family
- Gulls and terns (Laridae)
- Size
- 31–35 cm
- UK status
- Amber-listed
Photo by MPF, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons