California Least Tern: An Experience of a Lifetime

In the right bottom corner is a tern chick at the highest zoom, hence the quality.

California Least Tern, Sternula antillarum browni

      This subspecies (hence the browni) of Least Tern is extremely endangered due to absence of natural sand dunes in which both eggs and chicks are almost perfectly camouflaged. The Audubon Society believes Mission Bay is a good place to monitor and protect the species. However, as Mission Bay was man made, being dredged out of the wetland originally there, for recreation purposes, the sand does not behave like natural dunes. This leads to the hosting of non-native species of plants and much greenery which could be harmful to terns that want to camouflage. Therefore, many events are held for volunteers who wish to impact the community positively by clearing out invasive plants, such as the Telegraph Weed, Storksbill species, and Devil's Thorn. Bricks are also placed for chicks to hide under if need be. But one of the most important events are the ternwatching seasons where anyone can train in one class and look out and record predators and chicks in any site at almost any time.

These tern eggs were the first I have ever seen.

  Volunteering as a Ternwatcher    

     When I first started loving birds and volunteered at all for the Audubon, I was either eight or nine years old. My mother had heard of this and asked if I was interested and having freshly begun my passion for ornithology, I was all for it. I had so much fun (and I still do) pulling the filleree (storksbill) and protecting the Coast Woolly Head. I saw how much we cleared and I felt I had impacted the world of birds so much; it felt so rewarding. I wanted to continue my whole life long, and four years from then, to this day, I still volunteer. My mother noticed this in me and signed us up to the ternwatching class. That night, I was deflated seeing that my mom and I were probably the two youngest people volunteering. That also made me proud of myself, however. For four years, I go for most of the time. I don't go all the time as I have to wake up at around 6:00 to 6:30. I still struggle with that even though I wake up early during schooldays. What is annoying is every time, I usually miss a Peregrine Falcon. It is a great thing to not see one for the California Least Tern's sake, but it is still extremely cool to see one! This year, I've been taking my camera (more about it is seen in the Orange Breasted Falcon post) and am glad I have. I've never bothered to take a picture of a mother sitting on a nest, which is a scrape in the sand lined with pieces of shells. But when I see something interesting, like a chick in broad daylight, I try. I CAN'T STAND IT WHEN THE CAMERA FOCUSES ON THE FENCE IN FRONT OF ME RATHER THAN THE BIRD WHICH COULD POSSIBLY MOVE!!!!!!! That happens a lot, but when it doesn't, I can take pictures like the two above! When I started ternwatching, I was really curious if I could see any eggs. However, the birds are small so the eggs will be small. They are also almost perfectly camouflaged in the sand. You can imagine my excitement when I had actually taken a picture of one! It was so exciting seeing a nest so close to where we were observing from. The next week, the eggs were cracked and the nest was gone. I was so sad and disappointed. The way ternwatching actually works is this: When we arrive at a site (Mariner's Point, North Fiesta Island, Stony Point, and FAA Island), we set up and observe the terns and count them to an estimate, look for chicks if there, and count predators seen, except for gulls flying overhead. There are too many of those. If need be, we call Dave Parent, who will then set a trap with live bait for the dangerous predators. The California Least Terns are kept safe this way. This is an incredible way to volunteer a couple of hours every weekend and do your bit for an endangered species. This has changed my life.

Identification and Information

Size: 9 inches (22.86 centimeters)

Call: A rapid and shrill keDEEK, weak, nasal whididi, high, sharp squeaks

Description: A unique yellow bill, gray wings, white front and forehead, dark crown and two dark primaries

Habitat: Natural sand dunes (not present in Mission Bay, but oh, well. This is why we volunteer for weeding)

Diet: Fish, specifically anchovies

Biology Note 

Citizen science is a very important aspect to a community. Ternwatching and weeding volunteering are good examples of this concept. Through this, one can learn a lot and help the world as well. Citizen science is also a big step into the world of community service and education in science. If you are a parent or guardian, talk to your children about volunteering for citizen science opportunities. If you are a child, ask your parent or guardian about opportunities for bettering your community.

Last Note 

This experience of working with the Audubon and working with birds has changed my life and I hope I have encouraged young environmentalists everywhere to take a stand for all animals everywhere, not just birds, and certainly not just humans. My strongest opinion is that humans should tread lightly. We are animals too, and have our own scientific name: Homo sapien sapiens. We need to be proud of our scientific name, classifying us as humans, not just our first and last name. This is my vision for the world.