Banded Terns

Here's an uncommonly good view of a Common Tern, one of our focal species.

Please be on the lookout for Roseate and Common Terns with 3-character plastic field-readable (PFR) color bands. More than 1,500 Roseate Tern chicks were recently received these bands at Great Gull Island, New York as well as nearly 80 more chicks at Falkner Island. Tracking their movements from the breeding colony sites to Cape Cod is vital information, so please send your sightings to jspendelow@usgs.gov and us at ctwaterbirds@gmail.com, thanks!