The Wildlife of
Holy Island

 
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Terns - The Sandwich Tern

First seen on Wednesday 8th July 2020 at Holy Island


 

In my experience, the Sandwich Tern seems to be the most common species of tern on the north-east coast. From a distance it's not always easy to tell the terns apart. They have different calls, sizes, tail shapes etc, but I've found the best way to distinguish them is the bill colouration. Sandwich Terms have a long black bill with an obvious yellow tip. The other similar term is the much less common Roseate Tern, and their bill is all over black. The other key indicator is the leg colour - Sandwich Tern's are black, Roseate Tern's are bright red. Most of the time though, their legs are tucked in out of sight! They are very graceful birds and great fun to watch as they dive into the water. They can be seen from March until October. Juveniles start to appear from around July. These were fishing in the Harbour Bay, and roosting on St Cuthbert's Isle.