Roseate Tern

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Roseate Tern, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern	Red listed
Species of European Conservation Concern	Least Concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Least Concern
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	Yes
Birds Directive Annex 1	Yes
Listed on the Annexes of	WCA(I), WBD(I), Bern(III), Bonn(II), AEWA, NERC (41)

Roseate Tern numbers declined substantially between the 1969–70 Census and Seabird 2000 (1998–2002), from 955 occupied nests to just 56 nests (JNCC 2022). The species is monitored by the Rare Breeding Birds Panel and, as a UK breeding species, it is now almost exclusively restricted as a breeding species to one island site in Northumberland. This site hosted 122 of the 125 breeding pairs recorded in 2019 and the 25 year trend is stable (Eaton et al. 2021).

Roseate Tern is a species of conservation concern owing to historic population declines. At the time of Bird Atlas 2007–11 breeding was concentrated in just three colonies: Coquet Island in northeast England and Rockabill and Lady’s Island Lake in the east of Ireland. More recently, Coquet Island has been devasted by the 2022 outbreak of avian influenza.

Occupied 10-km squares in UK

No. occupied in breeding season	13
% occupied in breeding season	0.4

European Distribution Map

European Breeding Bird Atlas 2

In Britain, colony loss has been greatest in the Firth of Forth, where there has been competition with Herring Gulls, low productivity, intermittent breeding and emigration to other areas. In Ireland, losses have been greatest at Strangford Lough and along the west coast.

% change in range in breeding season (1968–72 to 2008–11)

-66.7%

Roseate Terns is a scarce breeding species, present from May onwards; some birds seen on autumn passage into August and September.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Maximum Age from Ringing	23 years 10 months 8 days (set in 2004)
Typical Lifespan	8 years with breeding typically at 2 year
Adult Survival	0.855±0.047

Ring size	C2
Field Codes	2-letter: RS | 5-letter code: ROSTE | Euring: 6140

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Causes of change

Recent increases at the main UK breeding site in Northumberland have been driven partly by immigration from Rockabill and Lady 's Island Lake in the Republic of Ireland (Seward et al. 2019 cited in Eaton et al. 2021), but the proportion of breeding birds that came from the Northumberland colony itself has risen from 20% to 60% between 2006 and 2019 (Eaton et al. 2021). However, the UK population remains well below the level in 1969–70. Longer term declines of the species are thought to have been driven mainly by hunting on its wintering grounds (Cabot 1996) although other factors may be responsible for local breeding declines including habitat loss, predation, disturbance and competition for nest sites (Avery et al. 1995, JNCC 2012). Intensive management programmes have been put in place to help protect the species including wardening at breeding sites and provision of nest boxes, and attempts to reduce the pressures affecting the wintering areas (Avery et al. 2010).