| Named after Sandwich in Kent, the Sandwich tern is a very
white tern, with a black cap on its head, a long black bill with a yellow
tip
and short
black
legs.
In flight it shows grey wedges on its wings tips and it has a short forked
tail. It has a harsh, grating cry which can be heard from March
onwards when the birds arrive on our coasts to breed. From July onwards
they return to south and southwest Africa. Individual
birds can live as long as 40 years and fly thousands of miles annually.In
the UK, many of the important colonies survive because they are on nature
reserves. They feed on fish such as sand-eels, sprats and whiting and nest in
shallow scrapes in the shingle. |
