Unlike songbirds that overwinter in South America, pesticide use is a very small factor in the terns’ list of perils. Throughout November to April, the terns flipped around the coast of Peru and Ecuador, spending almost all their time ‘at sea.’ In April they headed back up north to lay their eggs at Tiny Marsh, at first regrouping in Panama, then a short side trip to Texas, and then overland across the U.S.A. And on the 11th day they did a stopover in Panama. They left Simcoe County on July 19 and were noted to be in the Carolinas just five days later. As the birds fly by a receiving tower, their unique radio signature is recorded and their flight path determined.įour birds that were tagged at Tiny Marsh were tracked for both south and north migration routes and some surprising data has come forth. Dave Moore of the Canadian Wildlife Service has been studying these elusive birds and has captured and outfitted some with tiny backpack radio transmitters. The challenge is to get the youngsters of this second nesting all grown up in time for the fall migration.Īnd migrate they do.
Brilliant!Īnother survival technique is that this species will re-nest in July if the June nesting is a failure. One of the cool things about tern eggs is they are more porous than your usual, run-of-the-mill bird egg, which means they can endure a dunking and then dry out again. The reason the black terns shun the open water bays is their nests are built to be floating rafts, and are poorly constructed at the best of times, which means moderate to rough waves will upset or tear apart the nest structures, as will wake from motorboats if they are operated near a tern colony. While their cousins, the common tern and Caspian tern, tend to hang out on the rocky islands of Georgian Bay and Lake Couchiching, black terns find shelter in the calm inland waters of places like Tiny Marsh and Wye Marsh. And therein lies their first challenge, just finding a large marsh with open water patches few of these wetlands remain in southern Ontario. Terns, like their counterparts, the gulls, are a water-loving species, especially within large marshes with protected patches of open water. But their populations are in decline and scientists are watching for causes. But this week I am narrowing that scope down a bit, discussing a bird species few of you have been lucky enough to have seen.īlack terns (occasionally called by their nickname, sea swallows) are ranked in Ontario as being of special concern, which means they are neither endangered of nor threatened with extinction - yet. This column usually highlights a species that can be found ‘in your backyard,’ a way of providing some information about the myriad of critters that share living space in your neighbourhood.
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