The Black Tern is a small tern species that nests in freshwater marshes. In the past decade, populations have undergone drastic declines across much of its range. BBBO's Sharon Skelly has studied Black Terns since the early 1990s. Monitoring of Black Tern reproduction in marshes along the south shore of Lake Ontario has confirmed an alarming decline in the reproductive success of this species. 

Sharon Skelly and BBBO began the Black Tern project in 1989 with the following goal: To study productivity, survival, nest site fidelity (return of breeding adults from year to year), recruitment (young returning to natal area when they reach breeding age), and plumage characteristics (age/sex/molt). Since that time over 100 Black Terns, both juvenile and adult, have been banded in 3 colonies in Monroe County (Buck Pond, Buttonwood Creek and Salmon Creek). Color banding of terns began in 1992, and is continuing. This provides a means of identifying the colony origin and banding age (adult/juvenile) of birds which may not be re-capturable. To date, returns have included the very first tern ever banded by the project - a chick banded at Buck Pond on 25 June 1989 was recaptured as a breeding adult at Salmon Creek on 13 June 1994 at 5 years of age. An adult male captured at Salmon Creek in June of 1991 returned to breed there in 1992 and 1993. A chick banded at Salmon Creek in 1991 returned to breed at Buck Pond in 1994, while a Buck Pond chick (banded 1992) was discovered nesting at Salmon Creek in 1994. An adult banded in 1993 at Buck Pond was captured there in 1995. During 1995, a tern whose nesting attempt at Buttonwood failed moved to Salmon Creek for a second attempt.



The data from this banding project are shared with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC - who are conducting similar banding at Perch River WMA, NW of Watertown, NY), and counts of terns in Monroe County are reported to the DEC as part of their statewide monitoring program for this species.