Rockabill

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The Roseate Tern on Rockabill Island

The largest numbers of breeding Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii ) nest in tropical and subtropical areas of the Indian and North Atlantic Oceans, but temperate zone breeding populations can be found in North America, Europe, South Africa, and Western Australia. North temperate zone breeding populations on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean have declined considerably since the 1950s. It is Europe’s most endangered seabird and the largest European population now nests on Rockabill Island 7 miles off Skerries in Fingal.

In 1989, in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife (section of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government), BirdWatch Ireland deployed two full-time tern wardens on the island for the duration of the breeding season. At that time, less than 200 pairs nested, but over the years with careful management and protection the population had grown to 618 pairs by 2000. Management techniques involved a lot of gull scaring in the early years, provision of nest boxes (more than half of the Roseates now use them in preference to open/natural sites) and protection of the scarce soil so that a vegetated zone is preserved.

The trapping of terns in their wintering grounds for sport or food was also a concern but the RSPB and BirdLife International have funded an education programme by the Government of Ghana to try to reduce the incidence of winter trapping there.

In contrast with Common Terns which usually nest in open or exposed sites, Roseate Terns usually hide their nests under some sort of protective cover such as rocks, vegetation, or with the help of BWI and local schools- nest boxes.

The children of Jim Boylan's class in Balbriggan Community College have built specially designed nest boxes for use by the terns on Rockabill. Derek Mooney and Richard Collins from Mooney goes wild visited the school for the handover of the boxes to committee members Frank Prendergast, Cormac Crowley and Sean Pierce.

Identification: Adults have a white body and black head cap. The deeply forked tail measures 6 to 8 inches in length. The black bill is red at the base, varying with the season and the age of the bird; as the breeding season progresses from incubation to the care and feeding of chicks, more and more of the base turns pinkish-red. The rosy tint on the breast is rarely visible in summer, but the bird's bright orange-red legs and feet are easy to distinguish. Both sexes are similar. Chicks and fledglings have black bills, legs and feet. The voice is a high-pitched, rasping "aaak" and soft "chivy."

Tern Annual Migration
-The terns depart in April from their wintering grounds in West Africa, mainly Ghana, arriving on our coasts in May, 6000km in one month. The majority come to Irish sea.

The terns traditionally nest under the cover of Tree Mallow, but there's not enough nesting space under the Tree Mallows …

…so nest boxes allow more breeding pairs.

Nest boxes are a major success

Number of breeding pairs shows steady annual increase

Scientists collect the vital research data:

nest box identity numbers..….

hatch date….

number of chicks……

Record of weight & size…..

frequency & type of food…..

& each chick given a unique ring number

How the project is Helping Europe’s Most Endangered Tern

Oval Callout: Thanks
Guys… and keep up the wood-work !!