Sound system aims to tempt rare bird to breed in the North East

It is hoped the system will encourage roseate terns to breed at RSPB Saltholme, as well as on Coquet Island

A sound system is to be deployed to tempt one of the UK’s rarest breeding seabirds to nest on a North East nature reserve.

Coquet Island, off Amble in Northumberland, is the only UK breeding site for roseate terns, making the colony vulnerable. The island was badly affected by Avian Influenza in 2022 and 2023 with many adults lost to the disease and very few young fledging.

Every year a few of these birds call in at RSPB Saltholme on the Tees and a sound system will be installed next spring that will play roseate calls in the hope of encouraging them to nest and start a second North East colony.

A new conservation initiative to help threatened seabirds across the North-East has just been completed at RSPB Saltholme, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Protection Area, and a Ramsar site. Funded by Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme and led by a team of conservation experts at the RSPB, the aim is to ensure a brighter future for threatened Common Terns, Roseate Terns, and Black-headed Gulls.

Work has transformed an existing island in Back Saltholme Pool, which had become overgrown and unsuitable for nesting and a new island has also been constructed to provide extra nesting space. Both these islands have been topped with gravel, so these threatened seabirds now have safe places to raise their chicks.

Saltholme was home to 220 pairs of Common Terns and around 1,200 pairs of Black-headed Gulls in 2022. Both species are on the Amber list of 'birds of conservation concern' and Roseate Terns are Red listed due to their severe long-term decline in breeding numbers and range in the UK.

Like many other seabirds, all three species were then badly hit by Avian Influenza in 2022 and 2023. Saltholme’s breeding birds died in large numbers on the nature reserve, with many of those that survived abandoning their nests. Only 34 pairs of Common Tern bred in 2023.

Chris Francis, senior site manager at RSPB Saltholme, said: “The new islands will help these birds recover their numbers again and, by spreading them out across different breeding sites, reduce the risk of losing birds to Avian Influenza and other threats in the future. It is vital that we do everything that we can to support our seabirds’ recovery, and if our new sound system does the trick, a new Roseate Tern colony here at Saltholme next year would be the icing on the cake.”