Common Tern Eggs Had More PCBs, HCB and Mercury Than Oystercatcher Eggs in 40-Year Wadden Sea Study
Monitoring from 1981–2023 found higher PCB, HCB and mercury levels in common tern eggs than in Eurasian oystercatcher…
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News about Common Tern
Research, conservation and important developments connected to this species.
DNA in Common Tern Chick Droppings Closely Matched the Fish Adults Delivered
Across three breeding seasons, the proportion of dietary DNA reads assigned to each prey type closely matched the…
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Common Terns Extended Foraging Trips by Up to 87% in Poor Prey and Productivity Years
Four Gulf of Maine breeding seasons showed that common terns increased foraging-trip duration by 23–87% and expanded foraging…
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H5N1 Outbreak Killed at Least 8,137 Black-headed Gulls and 614 Common Terns in Germany
A 2026 reconstruction of Germany's 2023 H5N1 outbreak documented at least 8,137 dead adult black-headed gulls and 614…
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H5N1 Confirmed in a Common Tern During Namibia Outbreak Affecting Around 40 Birds
Around 40 common terns were found dead or showing signs compatible with highly pathogenic avian influenza on the…
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Most Tracked Common Terns From One German Baltic Colony Used the Western Route; 18% Used the Eastern Route
Of 71 Common Terns tracked from the Riether Werder colony on Germany’s Baltic coast, 58 used a western…
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Colony Soundscapes Reflected Breeding Stages in Common Terns and Adélie Penguins
A 2026 preprint found that colony-wide acoustic energy changed predictably across breeding stages in Common Terns in New…
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Almost All Adult Common Tern Call Types Had Distinct Measurable Acoustic Profiles
A May 2026 bioRxiv preprint quantified four frequency- and duration-based features of adult common tern calls from a…
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Ring Recoveries Mapped Two Major African Flyways for Western Palearctic Common Terns
Thousands of ringing recoveries showed western-breeding common terns mainly used the East Atlantic flyway, while central and eastern…
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Older Common Terns Had More Mercury in Most Feather Types
A 2026 study of a long-term common tern population in northern Germany found that older birds had higher…
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Terns Showed the Largest Increase During Nine Years of Mink Culling on Norway's Coast
Bird counts from ten coastal sites in Flatanger found that terns, including common and Arctic terns, showed the…
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Night-Time Colony Attendance Was 98% at Most Common Tern Colonies but Near Zero at One Marine Site
GPS tracking found breeding common terns stayed at most colonies for about 98% of the night, while night-time…
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UK Seabird Monitoring Found Steep Declines While Great Black-backed Gull Trends Split Between Scotland and Wales
The 2026 UK seabird statistic reported long-term declines of 72% in natural-nesting lesser black-backed gulls, 51% in natural-nesting…
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First-hatched Common Tern Chicks Were Over 11 Times More Likely to Reach Fledging Age Than Third-hatched Chicks
At a North American breeding colony, a 32-year study of 4,647 common tern chicks found hatch date and…
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