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  • Common tern

Common tern

Common tern (adult summer plumage)
Common tern (adult summer plumage)
Common tern (adult in flight)
Common tern (adult in flight)
Common tern (juvenile)
Common tern (juvenile)
  • Scientific name: Sterna hirundo
  • Bird family: Gulls and terns
  • UK conservation status: Amber
  • Protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

Common tern call audio

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Ross Ahmed, Xeno-canto

Key information

These delightful silvery-grey and white birds have long tails which have earned them the nickname 'sea-swallow'. They have a buoyant, graceful flight and frequently hover over water before plunging down for a fish. They are often noisy in company and breed in colonies. The common tern is the tern species most likely to be found inland.

What they eat:

Fish.

Measurements:

Length:
31-35cm
Wingspan:
77-98cm
Weight:
90-150g

Population:

UK breeding is the number of pairs breeding annually. UK wintering is the number of individuals present from October to March. UK passage is the number of individuals passing through on migration in spring and/or autumn.
UK breeding:
12,000 pairs

Identifying features:

This bird species has different identifying features depending on sex/age/season.

Common tern (adult summer plumage)

Common tern
Feather colour: Black Grey White
Leg colour: Orange Red
Beak: Black Orange Red Long Thin
Natural habitats: Marine and intertidal Wetland

Common tern (juvenile)

Illustration of juvenile common tern
Feather colour: Black Brown Grey White
Leg colour: Brown Orange Red
Beak: Black Brown Orange Red Long Thin
Natural habitats: Marine and intertidal Wetland

Similar birds:

Arctic tern
Arctic tern
Roseate tern
Roseate tern
Sandwich tern, summer plumage
Sandwich tern

Where and when to see them

The common tern breeds along coasts with shingle beaches and rocky islands, on rivers with shingle bars, and at inland gravel pits and reservoirs, feeding along rivers and over freshwater. Migrating birds can be seen offshore in autumn.

* This map is intended as a guide. It shows general distribution rather than detailed, localised populations.
  • Resident
  • Passage
  • Summer
  • Winter
Common tern distribution map

The best time to see the common tern is throughout the summer - they arrive in April and leave in August and September. They are most obvious when feeding young as they will fly some distance for food, returning to the nest site with a fish.

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RSPB reserves

  • RSPB Lodmoor
  • RSPB Havergate Island
  • RSPB Rye Meads
  • RSPB Portmore Lough
  • RSPB Belfast's Window on Wildlife
  • RSPB Loch of Strathbeg
  • RSPB Fen Drayton Lakes
  • RSPB Saltholme

Video

Common tern with food in beak to feed it's chick.

Common tern with food in beak to feed it's chick.

Common tern video screenshot

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