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Description: The Little Tern is a strongly migratory coastal seabird which usually fishes in very shallow water only a few centimetres deep, often over the advancing tideline or in brackish lagoons and saltmarsh creeks. It has the most inshore distribution of all terns. It breeds between May and July in solitary pairs or small monospecific groups usually of 1-15 pairs, occasionally amidst colonies of other terns. Its diet consists predominantly of small fish and crustaceans as well as insects, annelid worms and molluscs. In Scotland, Little Terns feed mainly on small fish and invertebrates, including herring, sandeel, and shrimps. The nest is a bare scrape positioned on the ground in sparse vegetation on beaches of sand, pebbles, shingle, shell fragments, or rock above the high tide-line and often only a few metres away from shallow clear water. Alternatively in more marshy habitats (e.g. coastal saltmarshes) the species may build a nest of shells or vegetation. The species nests in small loose colonies, with neighbouring nests usually placed more than 2m apart. Little Terns prefer channels and lagoons for foraging, rather than deeper marine habitats. They also prefer areas with abundant resources, entrance channels and main lagoon channels with strong currents, and areas with alternative feeding resources nearby. Areas subjected to strong human pressure and salt marshes are avoided. They tend to forage preferentially at low tide.
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