A review of the status of the Black Tern Chlidonias niger in Maltese waters

Abstract

The Black Tern Chlidonias niger is a widespread but patchily distributed summer visitor to much of Europe, which accounts for less than half of its global breeding range (BirdLife International 2004). It winters in Africa. Since the publication of the earliest scientific checklist (Schembri 1843), it has always figured in the ornithological literature of the birds of Malta, except in Gibb (1951), who did not record it while he was serving with the British Forces in Malta from August 1941 to July 1945. Sultana & Gauci (1982), while stating that it is not infrequently observed offshore, remarked that it was probably overlooked. Contemporary birdwatching started in the late 1960s after the Malta Ornithological Society (now BirdLife Malta) was set up in 1962. In spite of this development the number of ‗keen‘ bird watchers always remained very low up to the late 1980s, and to this date there are still less than 20 birdwatchers who go out bird-watching regularly. Offshore bird-watching from the coast started in the late 1980s, and increased slightly in the 1990s. In spite of this the offshore records of Black Terns remained fairly low in most years.