Long-lived Little Terns in Dorset

Conservationists studying nesting Little Terns at Chesil Beach, Dorset, have discovered that two of the colony's residents are now 15 and 16 years old, meaning that they have both travelled over 100,000 km during their lives.

Little Tern is Europe's smallest tern species and breeds widely across the continent, although it is scarce and strictly coastal in Britain and Ireland. It winters in Africa and it is this bi-annual migration which largely accounts for the spectacular distances travelled by the Chesil Beach birds.

The discovery was made during the fitting of new colour rings to the Chesil Little Terns in conjunction with the EU LIFE Little Tern Project. The project's aim is to lay the foundations for the long-term recovery of the species in the UK by increasing numbers of breeding pairs and productivity, identifying long-term plans for conservation and increasing public awareness and support.

The oldest known UK Little Tern is thought to be a bird that was colour-ringed in 2014 at a pre-breeding roost on the Inner Farne Islands, Northumberland. It was first ringed nearby on the Northumberland coast in 1992, making it 21 years and 10 months old at the time of recapture.

Little Tern (Photo: Lee Amery)

Thalassa McMurdo Hamilton, Little Tern Project Officer said: "Steve Hales, a local bird ringer, carried out the colour ringing with Luke Phillips of RSPB. Steve has had a long association with metal ringing Little Tern chicks at Chesil in the past. As the ringing got underway we noticed some of the adults were glinting silver on their legs — they already had a metal ring on — and luckily, we managed to catch a few of these. We excitedly wrote down the ring number and Steve went home to check the BTO records to see how old they were. A few hours later Steve revealed, incredibly, that he had ringed these birds at Chesil Beach in 1999 and 2000 — making these adults 15 and 16 years old!"

Steve Hales added: "Handling a bird which I had ringed as a week-old chick on the same beach sixteen years ago was very rewarding. It emphasised just what an age some of our smaller seabirds can reach. The next three years of colour ringing the Little Terns under the EU LIFE partnership will hopefully produce other exciting discoveries.

The Chesil Beach Little Tern project is now in its sixth year, and with the number of breeding pairs increasing, project staff were delighted to be included in the national ringing project.