Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) William C. Scharf Status: Special Concern (MNFI)
Pointe Mouillee State Game Area, Monroe Co., MI 6/1/2008 © Jerry Jourdan
(Click to view a comparison of Atlas I to II)
Black Terns are sleek birds flying buoyantly monitoring (Dunn and Agro 1995). However, when the abandoned sites exceed the new sites, low over water and marshlands “a restless waif as has been the case recently in Michigan, it of the air, flitting about hither and thither with indicates declining populations. wayward desultory flight” (Bent 1921) foraging for insects, and fish. Some have called them the Breeding Biology “jewel” of the marsh, and recent Michigan Black Terns nest in shallow marshes forming observations indicate that it is not only for their small colonies of up to 50 nests, but will appearance, but also for their scarcity. Once a occasionally nest alone, or with Forster’s Terns. common sight over Michigan wetlands, the Average colony size for 64 colonies on the species is becoming less common than ever. Great Lakes was 6.8 nests (Scharf 1999). They
nest on floating windrows of dead stems of Distribution reeds or cattails that have been broken by winter MBBA II shows four inland sites in the UP and ice and piled by wind and waves at high water eight along the coasts including a recently lines, and occasionally will nest on muskrat reported nesting site in the marshes along the dens. Water depths at nests are .5-1.2 m (17-32 Portage ship canal. There are approximately 22 inches) (Cuthbert 1954, Dunn and Agro 1995, sites in the UP that were abandoned since and Scharf 1999). The flooding of floating nests MBBA I. In MBBA II the NLP had six coastal during storms is a common factor in nest losses sites, and 16 inland sites, but 23 former inland of this species, but one to which Black Terns sites in the NLP were abandoned since MBBA seem adapted, unless the flooding is repeatedly I. The SLP had eight coastal nesting sites and caused by unnatural sources such as ship or sixteen inland sites in MBBA II. There were 44 recreational boating wakes. sites in the SLP that were abandoned since Their eggs have 50% more pores than expected MBBA I. Michigan Great Lakes regions with based on size and weight. This is probably an the largest concentrations are the St. Marys adaptation to the moist nest environment (Davis River, Lake St. Clair, and the northern Lake and Ackerman 1985). Huron marshes. Black Terns readily change colony sites, rendering detailed studies of specific locales less useful for population
© 2011 Kalamazoo Nature Center Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) William C. Scharf Status: Special Concern (MNFI) This agile flier frequently forages socially for shoreline. Even along the St. Marys River insects including dragonflies, mayflies, declines overtook a consistently stable caddisflies, beetles, true flies, and many other population documented from 1989-1991 (Scharf insects and spiders as well as small mollusks 1999). and crayfish. Fish consumed by the terns Conservation Needs include cyprinid minnows and young game fish Black Terns are a species of Special Concern in of several species (Dunn and Agro 1995). In the Michigan; several surrounding states list them UP, peak egg laying for 254 nests over three as endangered, but Ontario has no special years was in the first week of June (Scharf recognition (Hands et al. 1989, Austen and 1999) and in the NLP about a week earlier Cadman 1994). Wetland loss and degradation is (Cuthbert 1954). Renesting occurs after initial given as the main reason for population declines nest failures, and Scharf (1999) found a second (Clapp et al. 1984, and Gerson 1987). However, peak of laying around the last week in June into other topics in need of study are the ecology of the first week and a half of July. Bailey (1977) stopover migration sites and wintering biology. found the mean of four replacement nests to The introduction of game fish to tropical be15.5 days after first nest was destroyed. The freshwater lakes is a concern for Black Terns. fate of late season nesting is not known, but the The new predatory fish thrive on forage fish that prognosis may not be good because of advanced Black Terns depend on, and may create season and diminishing nesting and parental competition for food in tropical wintering care drive of adults. grounds (Zaret and Paine 1973).
Chicks of this species are quickly hyper-mobile, Eggshells in Wisconsin decreased by 15% and determination of chick survival necessitates during the DDT era (Faber and Hickey 1979), confining the chicks with a fence (Dunn 1979). but despite the presence of measurable amounts Cuthbert (1954) counted 46 damselflies per hour of DDE, PCB and Dieldrin, Dunn and Agro fed to ten-day-old chicks. Family groups persist (1995) maintain that the levels are too low for for at least five days after leaving the nest, with direct toxicity. However, indirect effects of one or both parents in attendance (Cuthbert pesticides may reduce insect food, inhibit 1954). Rarely, second year birds with white reproduction, and decrease embryonic vigor. under-parts return to breed (Mossman 1980). Black Terns will use artificial wetlands such as Abundance and Population Trends sewage lagoons, retention ponds, and restored (Click to view trends from the BBS) mitigation wetlands. Artificial platforms can be MBBA II shows steep declines in the number of used for nesting, especially when vegetation and townships where Black Terns were observed in mud are added. Care must be taken to allow all three Michigan regions. The UP shows a chick escape, and re-entry to the platform at 71% decline (8.52% of townships in MBBA I to water level. A simple board, or chunk of foam 2.42% of townships in MBBA II), the NLP a insulation is a perfect artificial platform (Scharf 48% decline (8.98% to 4.71%), and the SLP a personal observation). 48% decline in observations (9.91% to 3.69%). An alternate measure is nests counted only along the Great Lakes. Scharf (1998) counted 440 nests at 47 colonies in 1991, and Cuthbert et al. (2003) counted 292 nests at 26 colonies in 1997-1999: a 34% decrease in nests and a 45% decrease in colonies along the Great Lakes
© 2011 Kalamazoo Nature Center Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) William C. Scharf Status: Special Concern (MNFI) Literature Cited Hands, H.M., R.D. Drobney, and M.R. Ryan. 1989. Status of the Black Tern in the north Austen, M.J.W., and M.D. Cadman. 1994. The central United States. U.S. Department of status of the Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Twin in Ontario. Unpublished report. Ontario Cities, MN. Ministry of Natural Resources, North York, McGowan, K.J., and K.Corwin (eds.). 2008. The ON. Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York Bailey, P.F. 1977. The breeding biology of the State. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. Black Tern. [MSc thesis]. Oshkosh: Mossman, M. 1980. The second year of University of Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s Black Tern Survey, 1980. Bent, A.C. 1921. Life Histories of North Unpublished report. University of American Gulls and Terns. U. S. National Wisconsin, Department of Wildlife Ecology, Museum Bulletin 113. Madison, WI. Clapp, R.B., D. Morgan-Jacob, and R.C. Banks. Scharf, W. C. 1998. Distribution and 1983. Marine birds of the southeastern Abundance of Tree-nesting Heron and United States and Gulf or Mexico. Pt. 3. Marsh-nesting Tern Colonies of the U.S. Charadriiformes. FWS/OBS 83/30 U.S. Great Lakes, 1991. Pub. No. 2. Gale Fish and Wildlife Services Program, Gleason Environmental Institute. Lake Washington, D.C. Superior State University, Sault Ste. Marie, Cuthbert, F.J., J. McKearnan, L.R. Wires, and MI. A. Joshi. 2003 Distribution and abundance Scharf, W. C. 1999 Black Tern nesting colonies of colonial waterbirds in the US Great and habitat in marshes of the St. Mary’s Lakes: 1997-1999. Draft report to U.S. Fish River, Michigan. Michigan Birds and and Wildlife Service, Ft. Snelling, MN. Natural History 6:65-73. Cuthbert, N. L. 1954. A nesting study of the Zaret,, T.M., and R.T. Paine. 1973. Species Black Tern in Michigan. Auk 71: 36-63. introduction in a tropical lake. Science 182: Dunn, E.H. 1979. Nesting biology and 449-455. development of young Black Terns in Ontario . Canadian Field Naturalist 93: Suggested Citation 276-281. Dunn, E.H. and D.J. Agro. 1995. Black Tern Scharf, W. C. 2011. Black Tern (Chlidonias (Chlidonias niger). In The Birds of North niger). In Chartier, A.T., J.J. Baldy, and America, No. 147. (A. Poole and F. Gill, J.M. Brenneman (eds.). 2010-2011. The eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc. Second Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas. Philadelphia, PA. Kalamazoo Nature Center. Kalamazoo, MI. Faber, R.A., and J.J. Hickey. 1973. Eggshell Accessed online at:
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