Little Tern (Sternula albifrons)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vertebrate > bird > Bird |
| Red List Status: | Vulnerable (Breeding) [VU(br)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Sternula albifrons |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Pallas, 1764) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Stanbury et al., 2021 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Seabirds Count Eng -32% |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Declining population, reduced number of colonies. Required colony protection and habitat creation. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | Unlikely that suitable and undisturbed areas of breeding habitat would be created unless specifically targeted for little tern and associated species . Protection of surviving colonies makes all the difference to hatching success. Innovation needed to protect chicks from avian predators especially |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 6. Recovery solutions trialled |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Combination - sufficient |
| Species Comments: |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Undertake nest protection and other proven bespoke management interventions at all colonies
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Special (in situ) measure
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 50 sites
High priority sites: Norfolk, Humber, Tees, Northumberland, Cumbria, Essex, Kent, Sussex, Hants, Dorset.
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Provide new and restored safe nesting habitat through identifying opportunities in coastal management schemes e.g. through beneficial use of dredged sediment.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat creation
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites: Essex, Thames, Solent,
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Data review ( population and productivity ) and colour ringing analysis to inform future conservation strategy.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: Not applicable
High priority sites:
Comments:
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.