Nesting of Little Terns in Singapore.

LITTLE TERN (Sternula albifrons)

By Frankie Cheong

I came across some Little Tern nests in end May and early June at my place. There were at least 5 nests. Each nest, in a shallow depression in the sand, consisted of 2 to 3 eggs. Fig 1 & 2

Fig 1

Fig 2

I started to monitor them. The adult birds took turn to sit on the eggs, normally for around 2 hours, then the other bird would take over. Fig 3, 4.

Fig 3

Fig 4

Every time when people or vehicle passed by or moved too close to their nests, they would fly up and made lots of loud and alert calls . Fig 5.

Fig 5

In mid June, I started seeing the hatchings, these are day old chicks, most of the time they still hide under the parent for protection. Fig 6,7,8,9.

Fig 6

Fig 7

Fig 8

Fig 9

2 to 3 days later, these chicks started to venture out moving around close to the nest area.

As the place is a bare reclamation land without any trees and very hot during the day, these little chicks were smart enough to hide under some long grass to shade themselves from the sun. Fig 10, 11, 12, 13.

Fig 10

Fig 11

Fig 12

Fig 13.

The parents continued to bring food back for the chicks. Sometimes, they would use the fish to teach the chicks to move forward to catch, I believed this is part of the training for survival. Fig14.15.

Fig 14

Fig 15

I monitored them till mid July when all the chicks fledged. F 16, 17, 18 .

Fig 16

Likely this is a 2 to 3 weeks old chick. fig 17,18.

Fig 17

A slightly older one.

Fig 18

A family photo.

It was a great privilege to study and document the nesting of our only resident tern that breeds on mainland Singapore, even though this site is on an offshore island. The Little Tern is listed as a common resident, but suitable breeding sites across the island is diminishing. It was featured in Lim Kim Seng’s 1992 book “Vanishing Birds of Singapore” as vulnerable. At 2019 Mapletree Investment’s exhibition “Singapore Birds on the Blink” at Vivocity, it was one of the species highlighted.

Reference:

Lim Kim Seng. Vanishing Birds of Singapore 1992.

Lim Kim Seng. The Avifauna of Singapore. 2009. Nature Society (Singapore)