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June 25, 1981 - Terns and Tern PeopleSECOND SECTION Tbr 6 l f D th , l I I l f 5 _ JUNE 25, 1981 Terns and Tern People People often ask how I determine what to write about. My reply is that a combination of different events and hap- penings are probably the most influential factors. For example when I went out fishing this morning I was directed to the fish by numerous terns and the other reason is that there has been much activity recently at our local tern colony here on the East End. Probably the most dainty and graceful of all our seabirds is the common tern with its sleek white body, light grey wings and orange bill. Its wings beat more rapidly than the gulls and, of course, the birds are much smaller. Anyone in or around the bay can almost always see them some time of the day hovering above the water looking for food to snatch up or flying in a direct line with fish in their mouth for one of the local tern colonies. We on the North For0have two basic kinds of terns: the common tern, with its black cap and orange bill, and a much smaller one, the least tern, with its black cap and yellow bill. The latter is not as common because of its nesting habits on sandy areas where people congregate. Y BLACK SKIMMER One of our largest colonies of common terns is on the sandy island opposite the fishing stations between Greenport and Southold. Just this past month there have been two college seniors from the Univer- sity of Connecticut banding the terns and making observations for Helen Hays of the Museum of Natural History. She is coor- dinator of the now- famous tern colony off the eastern end of Orient on Gull Island. All bluefish and striper fishermen know that area well. It is nationally known for its good fishing because of the deep and swift water around the island. A Leading Project The Gull Island project has functioned as one of the nation's leading bird banding areas on the eastern seaboard and it is from here that students have visited neighboring tern colonies to gather infor- mation on banded birds. Cameron Faust - man and Tom Laffey, this year's volun- teers, working from the mainland counted over 1,300 pair of common terns nesting on the island.Arriving just before the chicks hatched, they marked the nests and got set for the hatch. May 30th was the first day the chicks saw daylight and the boys have been working every day since. Terns arrive from down south about mid April and the good people at the Port of q @ (� [N,(� co Dfl mflQ[flTg Egypt have acted as watch dogs to see that no harm comes to them. They even provided transportation for the students back and forth to the island. Not every Tom, Dick and Harry is allowed to band birds; if it is not done properly, they will suffer as this is a very crucial time in their life. The banders also have to be licensed with the Fish and Wildlife Service. It is through this central agency all migratory birds are banded. It takes a special kind of person to venture into that whirling, screaming mass of diving birds and work amongst them for a month. The birds would actually strike the boys, often drawing blood even though they wore hats. The birds in their excitement would whitewash them with excrement which, as the boys said laughingly, "Gave us a good reason to take a swim." The busiest day they had was the fourth day after hatch when they banded 400 baby chicks. The grand total of birds banded amounted to over 2,800. Each nest had a marker which included identification, number of eggs, mortality, etc. When they weren't banding baby chicks, they trapped adults to check and record previous bands. Some they found came from the Gull Island colony and some from the south side where Roy Wilcox, the noted ornithologist had put them on years ago. The Computer Age All this information on new and old birds was meticulously kept and will later be fed into the Fish and Wildlife's computer in Washington, D.C. There and at the mu- seum's headquarters in New York the information will be sorted out and from it will come a wealth of knowledge - -How long do the birds live? Where do they migrate? How long did it take them to get there? What killed them? Do they return to the same nesting area each year? Do they pair for life? All this and much more is pumped out from the computer at a later da te. Yet with all this information, probably the most important thing is that these birds act as an indicator of our environ- ment. By keeping track of the population and the condition of the young, we can see how our own world is functioning. Whether it's the loss of a luna moth to pesticides or deformed chicks from something in the food chain or no chicks at all as in the case of the osprey, all this tells a story. Besides the common terns nesting on the island, which is "Off Limits" to everyone except the researchers, there are four pair of roseate terns, and 33 pair of black skimmers nesting there. The roseate terns are much rarer and can be identified by their longer tails, black bill and they are a much whiter bird. Each bird, whether it be tern or skimmer, has its own nesting area -- and CHAROS C USTOM OUND EASTERN L.t.'s LARGEST AUDIO -VIDEO SPECIALISTS 28 Cameron St. ( just off Hain S 1 Southampton 2831428 TERN WITH EGGS Photos by Paul Stoutenburgh beware if any other bird young or old strays into it. There's continual squabbling and pecking, and the noise goes on day and night. The boys observed a few adults with only a stump for a leg. The theory is that in the frenzy of fish breaking the water after bait, the terns who swoop down to pick up the bait are accidentally nipped and lose a leg. Anyone who has seen this feeding frenzy can vouch for its fierceness. The begs have gone now and the tern colony has settled down. The young birds will soon be venturing out with their parents and start the ever - important process of survival. Next year if the world spins right they too will return from their winter vacation down in the Caribbean. In the middle of May, a scout will come and in no time the birds will be working over the area selecting their nesting sites. It's an encouraging sign to see how many people are interested in the welfare of these terns. As a parting comment, Cameron and Tom stressed they never knew people to be so concerned. Everyone wanted to make sure no harm would come to "their terns "...the terns that are a part of the fabric of the East End. PAUL STOUTENBURGH to Ot I June 7987 is... . Test Drive A Car Month. Go in and test drive a new car at any or all of WRIV's participating sponsors AND REGISTER TO WIN A GRAND PRIZE WORTH OVER '150. KEEP LISTENING TO (MIV East End Radio 1390 AM NOBODY DOES IT BETTER AT • A H u ;, AWORLDOFCULTURE EVERYTHING'S AFFORt)ABLE Portable Radios & Cassettes - Steien Components - Sales /Service Auto Sound Systems - TV's - Audio Accessories Over 50 Major Brands Large Scrp -n Projection T.V. - Video Recorders VHS MOVIES Available for Rent TERN WITH EGGS Photos by Paul Stoutenburgh beware if any other bird young or old strays into it. There's continual squabbling and pecking, and the noise goes on day and night. The boys observed a few adults with only a stump for a leg. The theory is that in the frenzy of fish breaking the water after bait, the terns who swoop down to pick up the bait are accidentally nipped and lose a leg. Anyone who has seen this feeding frenzy can vouch for its fierceness. The begs have gone now and the tern colony has settled down. The young birds will soon be venturing out with their parents and start the ever - important process of survival. Next year if the world spins right they too will return from their winter vacation down in the Caribbean. In the middle of May, a scout will come and in no time the birds will be working over the area selecting their nesting sites. It's an encouraging sign to see how many people are interested in the welfare of these terns. As a parting comment, Cameron and Tom stressed they never knew people to be so concerned. Everyone wanted to make sure no harm would come to "their terns "...the terns that are a part of the fabric of the East End. PAUL STOUTENBURGH to Ot I June 7987 is... . Test Drive A Car Month. Go in and test drive a new car at any or all of WRIV's participating sponsors AND REGISTER TO WIN A GRAND PRIZE WORTH OVER '150. KEEP LISTENING TO (MIV East End Radio 1390 AM NOBODY DOES IT BETTER