RSPB celebrates four decades of Little Tern caretaking project

It's been 40 years since the start of a project led by the RSPB to protect and caretake the annual breeding population of Little Terns, it is likely that there would now be very few breeding Little Terns on Norfolk and Suffolk’s busy beaches. 

Celebrating this remarkable achievement the project has been renamed Tern Around this year to reflect its positive impact on the species along this coastline. 

Since initially starting on Great Yarmouth’s beach in 1986 to protect Little Tern’s beach nests during spring and summer months – as Little Terns actually nest on the beach itself, the caretaking project has gradually expanded to beaches on east Norfolk and north Suffolk. 

Since the beginning of the project hundreds of volunteers have donated many thousands of hours to helping to protect breeding Little Terns. So far in 2026, 81 volunteers have already donated nearly 2,000 hours of their time. This is set to exceed the 2025 record of 66 volunteers who donated 3,140 hours of their time to protect these birds. 

And in 2025, the five-year average of Little Tern breeding pairs across the Tern Around protected breeding areas reached 314, with the largest colony hosting approximately 270 pairs and fledging approximately 455 chicks.  

But Little Terns face many breeding challenges. UK wide numbers of Little Tern breeding pairs have plummeted by 39% over the last 40 years due to a combination of threats including nest sites being disturbed by recreational visitors, nest vulnerability to predators, high tides, poor summer weather and land development. Breeding pair numbers have fluctuated over the years along the Norfolk and Suffolk coast including in the Tern Around project area, where the population fell by 28% between 2011 and 2023 – due to the narrowing of beaches as the dunes shift making for smaller breeding areas and closer contact with beach visitors.

With the support of the Tern Around project over four decades, and in partnership with organisations including Natural England, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Wildlife Wise, East Suffolk Borough Council and North Norfolk District Council, breeding pair numbers have remained relatively stable overall. This is thanks to a number of measures put in place on the Tern Around breeding beaches.  

Favoured nesting areas on beaches where Little Terns return each year are roped off by staff and volunteers just before the first birds start to scrape out hollows in the shingle and sand to form their ‘nest’. A dedicated team of experts, project staff and local volunteers then monitor the nesting birds day and night throughout the breeding season until early September - talking to beach visitors to raise awareness that Little Terns are nesting nearby and what they can do to not disturb them - including keeping dogs on a short lead near to nesting sites. 

The project also provides alternative food sources away from nesting sites to guide predators such as Kestrels away from the colony, and an annual community engagement programme builds links with parish councils, schools, local groups and businesses to develop a wider understanding about beach-nesting birds.

Pamela Hallesy, RSPB Beach Nesting Birds Coordinator said: We are super proud of how the Tern Around project has helped secure many generations of Little Terns along this coastline. Countless volunteers, experts and staff have put in endless hours over the four decades to protect and take care of this charismatic little bird. The fact that the Little Terns are still here against the odds all these years later is proof positive that a community pulling together to protect wildlife can work and that these beautiful beaches can still be enjoyed by visitors without disturbing birds that have been nesting here for decades.

Nesting Little Terns were first recorded in Norfolk in 1945, with 27 pairs regularly using the Scroby Sands sand banks off Great Yarmouth. In 1954, a handful of pairs began to use North Denes beach. Breeding pairs then appeared on Winterton beach during the 1960s, where numbers increased to over 70 pairs following the loss of Scroby Sands to storm erosion.    

Winterton-on-Sea remained the main site for Little Terns on this coastline until the early 1980s when the North Denes colony grew, peaking at 369 pairs in 2006. The birds also regularly breed in Suffolk at  Kessingland beach and Benacre Broad.   

Norfolk and Suffolk’s beaches and wetlands are incredibly popular with many species of birds and other wildlife, and this area of coastline helps to form part of the East Coast Wetlands - an area so important to wildlife it is currently in the running to become a World Heritage site. 

Little Terns are our smallest tern, its tail is forked, they have a yellow bill with a black tip, black headcap and black eyestripe. A white neck, throat and chest give way to light grey plumage across its wings. Legs are yellow or orange. Little Terns mainly feed on small fish, especially sand eels and can be seen hovering before diving into water to catch their next meal. They will lay 2 to 3 eggs and only have one brood per year. 

The Tern Around team will be working on the beaches to help protect nesting birds and their chicks this year until the last Little Terns fledge in August. The on-site protection for Little Terns will then resume again in spring 2027.