Information for THE media

News story

1. Roseate tern – one of the rarest and most splendid of our birds, will receive a boost of funding to secure their long-term prospect around British Isles.
2. In October 2015, the RSPB started a major, EU-funded project on conservation of the roseate tern in the UK and Ireland. 
   
3. Over the next five years, more than £2.5 million will be available to improve the conservation prospect of this priority species.
   

About the project

1. The project will be delivered in the partnership with BirdWatch Ireland and North Wales Wildlife Trust. 
2. The project aims to boost the ongoing effort to secure roseate tern populations and provide suitable conditions for their expansion to former breeding sites.
3. It will extend our knowledge about the threats, ecology, migration, prey species and best practice management. 
4. The project will raise the profile of the species to be used in the RSPB’s advocacy work, especially on sustainable fisheries, non-native species and climate change.
5. The project will be delivered at several coastal sites in Wales, Scotland, Northumberland, Hampshire, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
   

What’s happening in the spring?

1. We will increase wardening effort on each of the project sites, to inform the public about the conservation of roseate tern and protect the colonies from predators. 
2. We will improve habitat conditions in colonies and replace old nest boxes, which roseate terns use for nesting. We will also build special terraces to protect the terns from storm waters. 
3. We will continue marking birds with colour rings and monitor their movements within the region.
4. We will carry out public meetings with the local residents near roseate tern colonies to raise their awareness and gain their support for the conservation efforts.
   

About roseate terns

1. Roseate terns have probably always been rare and localised in the British Isles, due to their specialised foraging and nesting habitat requirements. They were driven to the brink of extinction by exploitation for the millinery trade during the 19th century, but recovered in the early 20th century as a result of protective legislation and management. Numbers peaked in the late 1960s, but dramatically declined thereafter.
2. Today, in the UK, roseate terns breed mainly on Coquet Island, off the Northumberland shore. This year, due to many years of conservation effort, the colony reached over 100 pairs. There are several other places in the UK, which are visited by terns regularly, but breeding attempts are irregular.
3. In Ireland, the numbers of breeding birds are higher, with just over 1,600 breeding pairs, distributed between two colonies on Rackabill Island and Lady Island Lake. 
4. It is important to note that some of the UK birds come from Ireland and that is why it makes so much sense to coordinate the conservation of this between the two countries. 
   

Roseate terns face many threats

1. Disturbance and egg collecting
2. Predation, including non-native species
3. Loss of breeding habitat
4. Lack of food due to overfishing and climate change
5. Catching by fisherman in Africa
   

Contacts:

Daniel Piec – Roseate Tern LIFE project manager
Daniel.piec@rspb.org.uk; mobile: +44 (0) 7860 927822

Leigh Lock – Senior Species Recovery Officer
Leigh.lock@rspb.org.uk

---

---

Any personal data you provide to us will only be used by the RSPB for the purposes of the Roseate Tern project. For more information about your data protection rights, please see RSPB’s Privacy Policy at https://www.rspb.org.uk/help/privacy-policy/.

---