Christian Hoefs

The smallest of terns breeding in Europe. Colonial breeder, occupying various types of open coastal and inland water-fringed habitats. Almost exclusively coastal in N Europe, elsewhere riverine, sometimes in quarries, often far inland or occasionally (in E Europe) in meadows or on flat roofs of buildings. The species has patchy distribution throughout most of Europe, Africa, Middle East, C, S & E Asia, and Australia (Gochfeld et al. 2020, Keller et al. 2020). European populations are migratory, the wintering grounds being largely in Africa.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendDecreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		66800-101000,81600
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Little Tern

Mostly coastal migrant in N & W Europe and further S along the Atlantic coast of Africa. Some birds fly overland, for instance crossing England, during migration. Breeding populations from N, NW, W & C Europe initially spread along the coasts of W & SW Europe on their way to the African wintering grounds which are located mainly from Senegal to Sierra Leone and along the Guinea Gulf. The latter are shared with birds originating from SW (Spain) & SC Europe (Italy) as well. Birds breeding in E Europe winter in the region of the Red Sea & S Arabian Peninsula, while those from the Caspian Sea region winter in the Persian Gulf & W India (Cramp 1985). A bird breeding in Israel, has been recovered in Mozambique, suggesting eastern breeders winter in E Africa.

Recoveries by Condition for Little Tern

Most encounters occur during the breeding season, peaking in Jun-Jul (ca. 80% in total). The bulk of encounters come from C Europe (35%), followed by NW (25%) and W Europe (16%). Unlike many other species, the ratio between the recoveires of dead birds vs those from live birds has shown little change over time – 20% vs 77% or 78%  before 1990, and 11% vs 89% since 1991. The latter is mostly due to recoveries; nowadays 4% of all recoveries are colour-ring resightings. About 8% of all pre-1961 recoveries are of shot birds, this figure dropped to 4% in 1961-1990 and, from 1991, is very rare (<1%). Distant recoveries from SE Europe are almost completely absent. Most marking and finding sites are biased to colonies and the presence of ringers/birdwatchers.

Annual Movements for Little Tern

Widespread autumn movements are evident from Aug. Numerous encounters from the Atlantic coasts of W & SW Europe in Aug and Sep are of birds breeding in NW, W, C & N Europe, which take S & SW routes. Few birds are encountered in W & C Mediterranean during migration. In autumn, European breeders from SW, SC and even SE (Greece) are found in NW Africa (mostly Sep-Nov,). The winter encounters from W Africa are mainly in Nov-Mar - mostly between Senegal and Sierra Leone, but also from the Gulf of Guinea (Ghana, Ivory Coast). Birds from European populations have been found wintering S to South Africa; a small number of birds overwinter in N Africa (Gochfeld et al. 2020). Spring migration takes place mostly in Apr-May.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Little Tern

Post-breeding dispersal starts as early as mid-summer. Аutumn migration is pronounced in late summer and early autumn when many birds breeding in N, C & W Europe disperse along the coastal areas of the Low Countries, France and the Iberian Peninsula. Birds originating from SC and (at least some) SE Europe in Spain & NW Africa use the Atlantic flyway. Some birds migrate through the C Mediterranean. Most birds have left breeding sites by mid-autumn. Birds are found in W Africa mainly from late autumn to early spring. There is one encounter in winter in E Africa. Return movements take place primarily in mid- to late spring. Earliest return to the breeding grounds in N Europe is around mid-May (Noskov et al. 2016).

Boris Nikolov

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
2020 . European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Bird Census Council & Lynx Edicions, BarcelonaEditor(s): Keller, V., S. Herrando, P. Voříšek, et al.
Cramp, S. 1985 . Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Volume 4. Terns to Woodpeckers. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA
Gochfeld, M., J. Burger, and E. F. J. Garcia2020 . Little Tern (Sternula albifrons), version 1.0. In Birds of the World Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.litter1.01) Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA
Noskov, G. A., Rymkevich, T. A., Gaginskaya, A. R. 2016 . Migration of Birds on Northwest Russia. Non-Passerines. ANO LA “Professional”, Saint Petersburg

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