2/11/2018
New research has revealed that, for over 20 years, the growth of the Coquet Island Roseate Tern population has been supported by birds moving from Rockabill, Co Dublin.
Authors of a new paper published in the Journal of Animal Ecology found that the Rockabill colony, where 1,633 pairs of Roseate Terns nested this year, is the only site in Britain and Ireland which is essentially exporting birds to other colonies. As a result, it's hoped that the increasing populations at Coquet Island, Northumberland, and also at Lady's Island Lake, Co Wexford, will lead to new colonies being formed elsewhere.
The new research, co-funded by the EU LIFE Programme, RSPB and Natural England, shows that, between 1992 and 2016, the Coquet Island colony attracted more young birds to nest there than it was producing. In 2018, record numbers of Roseate Terns nested there. It is hoped that an increasing and thriving colony at Coquet Island will eventually lead to Roseate Terns settling at new sites, or recolonising areas in which they formerly bred. Since the research was carried out, it appears that the Coquet Island Roseate Terns are now beginning to sustain their own numbers and, in 2016, 50 per cent of terns nesting on the island had been hatched there. This year that figure climbed to 60 per cent.
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