Conservation Status of the Roseate Tern
Roseate terns have probably always been rare and localized in the British Isles, due to their specialized 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 declined thereafter; this was possibly due to poor immature survival rates, which in turn may have been partially attributable to deliberate trapping in the Ghanaian wintering grounds. Factors such as predation and loss of nesting habitat (due to erosion, competition with gulls and/or disturbance) may have also played a role.
In the UK, roseate tern experienced the most dramatic decline of any seabird species between the Operation Seafarer census carried out in 1969–70 and the Seabird Colony Register census carried out in 1985–88. In addition, it continued to decrease between the latter census and the Seabird 2000 count in 2000. The reduction between 1969–70 and 1985–8 amounted to 66%, and that between 1985–8 and 2000 was 83%.
This long-term decline is illustrated in the attached graph covering the years 1986 to 2013, and the attached table covering 1969 to 2013. Please note that the figures in the graph and table are not identical. This is because the graph covers all sites whereas the table covers only SPAs designated for roseate tern; and, in some years at least, small numbers have bred outside these SPAs.
As a result of its steep decline, roseate tern is considered to be of high conservation concern in the UK, and is one of just three seabirds on the national Red List. It is now very scarce in this Member State, and also has the most restricted range of any seabird there. It has bred in only a handful of SPAs over the last decade, and is now confined almost entirely to a single site – namely Coquet Island off the Northumberland coast in north-east England.
The decline in the UK has coincided with a recent increase in numbers in RoI, and there is evidence that birds from UK colonies have joined the large colony at Rockabill with limited reverse movement. Rockabill currently accounts for the great majority of the RoI population, with 1,241 pairs in 2014 out of the national total of 1,413 pairs. The remainder of this population is found at Lady’s Island Lake (171 pairs in 2014) and Dalkey Islands (1 pair in 2014). Roseate tern is listed as Amber in RoI.
Roseate tern is identified as a conservation priority in the following official documents:
In the UK, roseate tern experienced the most dramatic decline of any seabird species between the Operation Seafarer census carried out in 1969–70 and the Seabird Colony Register census carried out in 1985–88. In addition, it continued to decrease between the latter census and the Seabird 2000 count in 2000. The reduction between 1969–70 and 1985–8 amounted to 66%, and that between 1985–8 and 2000 was 83%.
This long-term decline is illustrated in the attached graph covering the years 1986 to 2013, and the attached table covering 1969 to 2013. Please note that the figures in the graph and table are not identical. This is because the graph covers all sites whereas the table covers only SPAs designated for roseate tern; and, in some years at least, small numbers have bred outside these SPAs.
As a result of its steep decline, roseate tern is considered to be of high conservation concern in the UK, and is one of just three seabirds on the national Red List. It is now very scarce in this Member State, and also has the most restricted range of any seabird there. It has bred in only a handful of SPAs over the last decade, and is now confined almost entirely to a single site – namely Coquet Island off the Northumberland coast in north-east England.
The decline in the UK has coincided with a recent increase in numbers in RoI, and there is evidence that birds from UK colonies have joined the large colony at Rockabill with limited reverse movement. Rockabill currently accounts for the great majority of the RoI population, with 1,241 pairs in 2014 out of the national total of 1,413 pairs. The remainder of this population is found at Lady’s Island Lake (171 pairs in 2014) and Dalkey Islands (1 pair in 2014). Roseate tern is listed as Amber in RoI.
Roseate tern is identified as a conservation priority in the following official documents:
- Annex 1 of the EU Birds Directive
- The Ornis Committee list of bird species prioritised for funding through LIFE
- Birds of Conservation Concern 3, which covers the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man (British Birds 2009; 102: 296–341)
- Birds of Conservation Concern in Ireland 2014–2019 (Irish Birds 2014; 9: 523–44)
- Schedule 1 of the UK’s Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
- the UK’s Biodiversity Action Plan and Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework
- The List of Threatened and/or Declining Species and Habitats produced under the OSPAR Convention, the legal instrument guiding international cooperation on the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic.
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