ROSEATE TERN Sterna dougallii

Quite widespread throughout the world except South America, but usually in small numbers, a difficult bird to catch up with in most countries. Only one colony of any size occurs in Britain, although there are breeding records of one or two from many sites, pairs are often seen prospecting but rarely stay to breed. The bill colour varies between races, and gets more red as the breeding season progresses, inviting confusion with Common Tern.

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