Efforts to support the island’s last breeding pair of common terns failed to bare fruit this summer with no new chicks hatched.

The autumn edition of the Envirotalk newsletter, produced by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said that only six adult common terns were seen over the course of the 2025 season with no viable eggs found.

An article penned by Mark Outerbridge, a senior biodiversity officer, Erich Hetzel of the Bermuda Audubon Society, and Miguel Mejias, a conservationist, said climate change is threatening the Bermudian population of the species.

The article said: “Common terns that nest here are isolated by over 1,000 kilometres from other populations around the North Atlantic Basin.

“As a consequence of this, our terns are genetically distinct from the others.

“If Bermuda’s common terns die out, an entire evolutionary lineage of seabird will become genetically extinct.”

Common terns are one of three species of tern known to nest in Bermuda, alongside the iconic longtail and less common roseate tern.

However, the species faced heavy hunting pressure during the late Victorian era with climate change cited as “responsible for continuing recovery setbacks”.

The article said: “Every time Bermuda receives a direct hit by a category 2 hurricane or higher, the entire fledgeling crop and most, if not all, of the adult males are killed.

“Adult females are spared this fate because they migrate south before the worst of the hurricane season begins, leaving the males to remain behind with the fledged young birds while they develop their flight muscles and learn how to hunt for baitfish.”

As of 2019, the number of breeding pairs had fallen to just three and by 2022 only one pair remained, nesting on an old metal buoy in St George’s Harbour.

The pair produced three chicks that year, two of which survived to fledging, but no common terns have fledged in Bermuda over the past three seasons.

In an effort to improve the odds of new chicks this year, the decision was made to try to encourage any breeding pairs to a better location on a concrete pylon near Coney Island.

The article noted that the site had previously been prepared by conservationist David Wingate for a similar purpose in the 1970s, but common terns did not embrace the site at the time.

As part of the new effort, the conservationists chose to incorporate “decoy” birds and play audio recordings of thriving rookeries to attract breeding pairs to the area.

The article said: “Common terns usually migrate to Bermuda in late March and early April.

“With help from Alex Davidson and Chris Cabral, fisheries wardens, we climbed onto the largest of the concrete pylons off Coney Island on April 4 and prepared the site.

“This involved removing two courses of concrete block, all the invasive vegetation growing out of the aggregate and assembling the audio equipment — a 12-volt battery, two speakers, a solar panel mounted to a frame and an MP3 player.

“We used some of the dismantled concrete blocks to create shelter for chicks seeking refuge from predatory birds and the sun. Finally, two decoy terns were left in a prominent position.

“This combination of audio and visual equipment indicates to other terns that it is a safe, good quality nesting place.”

Unfortunately, by August the team realised that the efforts were unsuccessful as no common terns had chosen to nest on the pylon.

The article added: “In fact, the male-female pair was not sighted in the St George’s Harbour at all this year, so they did not get the chance to inspect our offered nesting refuge.

“We won’t give up and remain hopeful of better results in the future.”