A New Tern (Sterna) Breeding Record for Hawaii

Abstract

Recent observations of terns, either the Old World Little Tern (Sterna albifrons) or the New World Least Tern (Sterna antillarum), at Pearl and Hermes Reef in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands have documented that one of these species bred there in 1988 and possibly also in the several preceding years. Two small Sterna terns were first observed at Pearl and Hermes in 1984, and the numbers subsequently observed there gradually increased until five birds were recorded in 1988. In 1988 a nest containing three eggs was found, and at least one egg produced a nestling. No small Sterna terns were seen during a 2-week visit to the atoll in 1989 or a 2-day visit in 1990. No specimens were collected, and photographs taken do not permit specific identification of the birds. We favor S. albifrons sinensis because there are now specimen records of Asiatic Little Terns from French Frigate Shoals and Midway Atoll and a sight record from Laysan Island, and because a review of prevailing wind systems in the Pacific and other vagrant bird records from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands suggest that such birds are more likely to arrive from the west than from the east.