Birds and wildlife

Roseate Tern

Sterna dougalliiGroup: Gulls and ternsUK Conservation status:Red

How to identify

The Roseate is a similar size to a Common Tern but very white-looking, with tail-streamers, a black cap and a black beak with a reddish base. In summer, adults have a pinkish tinge to their underparts which gives them their name. It's one of our rarest seabirds and its severe, long-lasting and well-documented decline make it a Red List species. It is also listed under Schedule 1 of The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

Call

Roseate Tern

Ross Ahmed / xeno-canto

An adult Roseate Tern feeding their chick on a sandy beach.
Roseate Tern and chick
Renewed hope for rare Roseate Terns

Last year, the UK’s only Roseate Tern colony at Coquet Island, Northumberland, broke a record with 191 chicks hatched and 92% of those young birds successfully fledged.

Key

  1. Resident
  2. Passage
  3. Summer
  4. Winter
* This map is intended as a guide. It shows general distribution rather than detailed, localised populations.
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

Key facts