Roseate Terns on Sable Island declined drastically in the last 40 years. Although in the 1980's it was the largest Canadian colony of Roseate Terns
(Horn and Taylor 2000*), the numbers were down to less than 6 pairs by the 1990's (Horn and Shepherd 1998*).

A 2006 survey found only 3 Roseate Tern individuals on the island even though Common and Arctic Terns were successful there. Breeding of Roseate Terns on the island was confirmed in 2007 and 5 breeding pairs were confirmed in 2008 and 2009.

Since then, the Sable Island Preservation Trust, in partnership with the Atlantic Coastal Action Program, is researching diet, productivity, predation and critical habitat, and aims to mitigate human interference with the populations of terns nesting on the island.

Please visit the Sable Island Preservation Trust for more information
on past and ongoing work on Sable Island.