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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Thanks SO MUCH for trying! Given that the logger has stopped sharing its location in the meantime, perhaps it has been broken and carried away by something else now. But it was well worth a try to figure out what exactly had happened. And caring and kindness make the world go round too. Thank you! ❤️

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Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar @asanchez-tojar.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

We did our best but couldn't find this little fellow. Here are some pictures of what the habitat looked like. After an hour searching through the ferns, we saw no sign of it, or of any raptor nest for that matter. We are really sorry @commonternproject.bsky.social 🙏

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Coming up on the 25th: the NWDUG’s #scienceslam that will take place in #Wilhelmshaven. Kindly supported by Navisense and @sfb1372.bsky.social, there will be 6 youngsters presenting their science in the coolest of ways. Among them will be Phillipp & Sonam, two PhD students from @ifv-whv.bsky.social:

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I can’t believe I am writing this, but chick T99 chose another route than his dad L43, and whereas dad seems to safely be hanging out in Spanish Laguna de Gallocanta, the GPS track of T99 suggests predation in Portugal. Here’s the position: maps.app.goo.gl/qHsMCT8HUzWm...

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

There are only 3 GPS tagged adults and 2 GPS tagged chicks left on the continent now: two in France and three in Spain. Fingers crossed for those to make it to their wintering areas safely!

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Dear Bluesky-friends, I am back to ask another favour. Gull-billed tern chick H36 has died close to Parque Nacional de Doñana. It seems to be on a small island in the Caño de Guadiamar: maps.app.goo.gl/Z195ha4z9zYY...

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

New paper alert: making use of 40 years of measurements of POPs and mercury in eggs of oystercatchers and terns breeding in the Wadden Sea, we investigated whether pollutant levels differed between the two species and 17 sampling locations, and how they changed over time: doi.org/10.1016/j.en...

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BirdGuides @birdguides.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Scotland's seabirds are struggling to survive with many species in continued long-term decline, according to new statistics from NatureScot:

f.mtr.cool

Scotland's seabird numbers halved since 1980s, new figures show

Scotland's seabirds are struggling to survive with many species in continued long-term decline, according to new statistics from NatureScot.

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

As part of the #B10K project, a gull-billed tern from Neufelderkoog is one of the birds of 350 species that has recently had its genome assembled. These genomes have now been released in Gigascience: doi.org/10.1093/giga...

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Here's a little shout-out to our lovely volunteers Lotti & Louise, whose last day it is today. Thank you both so much for spending your voluntary year with us. It was great fun having you, and I am sure the pictured chick that you rescued is still grateful! ❤️

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

After hanging out at Parque Nacional de Doñana for a while, it has now happened: gull-billed tern fledgling H13 is the first of our ‘logger-babies’ to have left Europe. Sibling H12 has made its second move to France today, while mum L09 is still hanging out in the Netherlands. #theygrowupsofast

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Harry Kuipers @harrykuipers.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Sure! bsky.app/profile/harr...

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

@harrykuipers.bsky.social, wanna add a pretty picture of H13 to the story? :-)

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Here’s an update on gull-billed tern L49, whose GPS showed us that it died in France while traveling south: although google street view suggested a power line might have been the problem, the corpse actually suggests that the bird has been shot.

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Harry Kuipers @harrykuipers.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Lachstern L21 brengt jong T92 een lekkere dikke sprinkhaan. 😋 Gull-billed tern L21 brings a nice fat cricket to his chick T92. 😋 @gullbilledterns-de.bsky.social

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Harry Kuipers @harrykuipers.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Het Lachsternseizoen is nog niet voorbij 🥳 Dit is één van de zendervogels die momenteel nog in Groningen zit.

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Harry Kuipers @harrykuipers.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Bloedheet gisteren, 36°C. Deze jonge Lachstern had het ook warm. Video gemaakt vanaf een bootje, dus het beeld schommelt een beetje... Hot yesterday, 36°C. This young Gull-billed Tern was hot too. Video shot from a boat, so the image is a bit shaky...

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Current status of @gullbilledterns-de.bsky.social's birds we deployed with a GPS logger : 7 birds are out of range, and 25 scattered across Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain and Portugal.

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Gull-billed tern conservation @gullbilledterns-de.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Meanwhile in Noord-Holland. One of our gull-billed tern chicks doing some playful flight training in between feedings and naps. With slootjes (ditches) full of frogs and a parent nearby bringing them on life can be easy. Thanks to Fred Visscher for the lovely footage.

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Harry Kuipers @harrykuipers.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Lachstern - Gull-billed tern L37 jaagt een kokmeeuw weg die de net gevangen sprinkhaan van zijn jong wilde stelen. L37 chases a black-headed gull away, who wanted to steal a cricket from his chick. @gullbilledterns-de.bsky.social

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Harry Kuipers @harrykuipers.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Lachstern - Gull-billed Tern 😍 @gullbilledterns-de.bsky.social

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

The good news just keeps coming and coming today. Look at these sensational data provided by the tracking project we have with @gullbilledterns-de.bsky.social!

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

See that cute gull-billed tern chick thinking of leaving the safety of the frog- and electric fence that allowed it to grow up behind? Well, it did, and with a logger, so that you can also see its first trip away from the colony on the right. ❤️

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Two photos that make us very happy this morning – story below. :-)

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Out now & open access in Avian Pathology - a collaborative paper showing how highly pathogenic avian influenza (clade 2.3.4.4b euBB) was introduced, and led to high mortality, in breeding colonies of black-headed gulls and common terns in Germany in 2023: doi.org/10.1080/0307...

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Harry Kuipers @harrykuipers.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Lachstern - Gull-billed Tern 😍 Zo benieuwd welke geheimen de gps-zender van deze dame ons gaat vertellen!

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Hatching has started at @gullbilledterns-de.bsky.social's colony site too. ❤️

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

In other lovely news: the breeding season of @gullbilledterns-de.bsky.social is well underway too and parents of the first three nests have been identified. Here are L28 and L13, last-year sweethearts, this year breeding at nest 3. More news on the blog: gelochelidon.de/home. :-)

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Happy 3rd birthday to the tern exhibition at the Banter See! We celebrate with 362 registered birds and 153 clutches today. :-)

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Happy #SeabirdSaturday from the Banter See common tern colony, where 378 birds have now been registered by the antenna system, and 225 nests have been found. It's a synchronous season this year!

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Matteo Beccardi @matteobeccardi.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Excited to share our new paper out in @jexpbiol.bsky.social! Here, we investigated how sex and age shape mitochondrial function under natural conditions in a long-lived seabird, the Common tern. Read the paper here for more information👇 doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

doi.org

Sex and age shape mitochondrial function in a long-lived seabird

Summary: Age and sex influence mitochondrial function in a long-lived seabird, offering insights into ageing and individual differences in performance.

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Today, Junior Rangers visited to try out our Suitcase Science project. We drew & talked about terns; played tern-bingo to complete a pedigree & learn about variation in reproductive success; puzzled until we understood how terns get polluted by mercury; and turned postcards into migration routes.

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Happy news before the weekend: 346 birds have now been registered, and the number of nests has shot up to 81 this morning! ❤️

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Some very happy news on this Monday: over the weekend, two of our GPS-tagged gull-billed terns returned to Neufelderkoog and started uploading their data to the hub. Although the data transfer is not yet complete, both seem to have spent their winter in Guinea-Bissau.

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

One week in, 149 birds have been registered. Among them is 25-yr-old Roy, currently the oldest bird of the population, after most other elderly terns died during the HPAI outbreaks of 2022 and 2023.

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Surprising too: we so far have registered 22 males and 43 females. The current age range is 4 - 19 years.

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

As an update: 6 more birds were registered by the system yesterday, such that 8 birds are known to have arrived in total, with more spotted today. Synchronous, but not early, as the first-arrival summary-graph for the years 1994-2026 shows:

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Live from the field: they’re here! The first two registrations of the 2026 season are a fact and go to Calderon and Pricilla. ❤️

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

In other lovely news: the first gull-billed terns have returned over the weekend too. You can follow their stories on the blog of @gullbilledterns-de.bsky.social's website: gelochelidon.de/blog/gull-bi...

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Proud to present: Suitcase Science, a new outreach format containing 6 assignments to take on a journey to schools in the region, to teach kids about terns, how to study them, their fascinating behaviour and some of the things that threaten them. Wanna book us? Drop me a line. :-)

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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

A richly rewarding two days reviewing @ifv-whv.bsky.social: thriving under the brilliant leadership of Sandra Bouwhuis & Miriam Liedvogel. An exciting programme of research into avian migration & life histories with many future stars. Outstanding @commonternproject.bsky.social museum by frozen sea!

Profs Miriam Liedvogel & Prof Sandra Bouwhuis - brilliant leaders of the Institute of Avian Research (with some old German ornithological leaders in the background)

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

This #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience I would like to say a big THANK YOU to the amazing women and girls I currently have the pleasure of sharing my #ternscience journey with. Onwards and upwards we go! ❤️

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liedvogel lab @genmig.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Gull-billed terns for the win! Anna’s final PhD chapter published in Evol Applications doi.org/10.1111/eva.... Thanks to all lovely collaborators, especially @commonternproject.bsky.social @gullbilledterns-de.bsky.social @robertrollins1892.bsky.social & @dornitholges.bsky.social for funding

Adult gull-billed tern landing with prey to feed its chick, runing towards the parent. Background with flying gull-billed tern silhouettes. Beautiful illustration by @co-la.bsky.social

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Out now in ‘Evolutionary applications’, the last chapter of Anna’s PhD thesis, in which she used whole genome sequencing data of contemporary and historic European gull-billed terns to assess whether the population decline in part of their range has had genetic consequences: doi.org/10.1111/eva....

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

There’s one month left to apply for the PhD position on interactions between contaminants and parasites in common terns, co-supervised by @alicecarravieri.bsky.social, Bernd Sures from @unidue.bsky.social and myself. You can do so here: euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/380142

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Out @animalecology.bsky.social today - a paper with David Ewing in which we explore the #HPAI outbreak in the terns. We find bird-to-bird transmission to be the main driver of infection and estimate the probability of mortality to drop from 0.26 to 0.14 from 2022 to 2023: doi.org/10.1111/1365...

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Common Tern Project @commonternproject.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

And to add some more beauty to the internet: here's a close-up of Dr Schnelle, with her gorgeous hat crafted skillfully by various members of the @ifv-whv.bsky.social, fired on by @robertrollins1892.bsky.social. 🥰

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