Short abstract from the book: In Denmark the little tern is a rather rare breeding bird with
scattered breeding colonies at many coastal sites and a few
inland lakes. The population size is estimated at 410 breeding
pairs.
The first little tern was ringed in 1922, with the majority
ringed in the late 1960s and the ’70s. The recovered birds
were ringed in the colonies from 7 May to 27 July, 24 % as
chicks.
The first little terns have been recovered abroad in July, one
in the German Wadden Sea and four in France. Most birds
migrate in August, and at this time 43 % of the recoveries
are from abroad, with the mean position south of Denmark.
In August birds have been recovered from the Baltic Sea to
southern Spain. In September all birds are recovered from
France and Portugal. No Danish birds have been recovered
between November and mid-April. Only very few birds have
been recovered in spring: one in Belgium on 21 April and
one on Rømø on 25 April. Little terns ringed as chicks in
Denmark have been recovered as breeding birds in Denmark,
north Germany and Sweden. The mean distance between
place of birth and breeding site was 74 km. Birds ringed as
chicks in Sweden (9), Poland (1), north Germany (15), the
Netherlands (1) and Scotland (2) have been found breeding
in Denmark.
Adult birds often return to the same breeding site: 59 %
returned to the same site, 19 % moved 2–10 km, 19 % 11–
110 km and 4 % more than 100 km. Although most little
terns return to their breeding colony, there are several examples of exchange between the different Danish colonies or with
colonies in Germany and Sweden.
Read more about the species in the chapter from The Danish Bird Migration Atlashere
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