Bridled Tern
Onychoprion anaethetus (Scopoli, 1786) (1, 1)
Photo © Rob Stonehouse
STATUS
Oceanic, Tropics and Sub-tropics. Polytypic.
OVERVIEW
Records as per BOU (1971). Both individuals found dead.
RECORDS
1). 1931 Kent Dungeness, male, found dead, 19th November.
(Bulletin of the British Oology Association 3 (1932): 97; H. F. Witherby, British Birds 28: 91; BOURC (1934), Ibis 76: 634-635).
History H. F. Witherby (1934) in British Birds, Vol. XXVIII. p. 91, says: 'A Bridled Tern, sometimes called the Lesser Sooty Tern or Panayan Tern, was found dead by Mr. Guy Mannering on the beach, two miles inland from Dungeness, near the Hoppen Pits, on November 19th, 1931. The bird was considerably decomposed, but Mr. Mannering managed to preserve it. It was a male and the stomach was empty. Mr. Mannering thought that it had been struck down by a bird of prey as there was a wound in the breast. It was an adult moulting from summer to winter plumage, the new feathers on the crown being streaked with white, and those on the mantle being tipped with grey.
The bird agreed best with specimens from the Red Sea, the primaries and tail-feathers having less white, and the white of the under-parts being more greyish than in birds from the West Indies. The inner web of the outer primary was white at the base with a wedge of dull white running up from it, while the inner web of the next primary was pale brown with white only at the base. The outer tail-feather was white with a dark tip on the inner web and the next tail-feather was dark brown with only the base of the inner web greyish-white, instead of white with a brown tip as in birds from the West Indies. The measurements were: wing 250 mm., longest tail-feather (worn) 145, bill from feathers (some forehead feathers lost) approximately 41, tarsus 20.'
Admitted nationally in the Tenth List Report as the first for Britain (BOURC (1934) Ibis 76: 634-635).
1950-57 RECORDS
2). 1954 Gower Three Cliffs Bay, found freshly dead, 11th September, wing now at National Museum of Wales, Cardiff (Z.1955.145).
(H. Morrey Salmon, Transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists' Society 1953-54: 23; H. Morrey Salmon, British Birds 48: 90; Lovegrove, Williams & Williams, 1994).
History H. Morrey Salmon (1953-54) in the Transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists' Society, Vol. LXXXIII. p. 23, says: 'What was recognised as an unusual tern was found, freshly dead, in Three Cliffs Bay, Gower, on September 11th, 1954 (R.B.D.). Unfortunately, it was not reported until a week later and, though the wings had been cut off and kept, the body was then irretrievable. From the wings it was possible to identify it as this species, the second occurrence only in Great Britain and the third in the British Isles. The wings are now in the National Museum of Wales.'
H. Morrey Salmon (1955) in British Birds, Vol. XLVIII. p. 90, says: 'On 11th September 1954 a tern, apparently freshly shot, was picked up dead at Three Cliffs Bay, Gower, Glamorgan, by a man who described it as the size of a Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) with a black cap extending down to the nape, black wings, long black forked tail, white underneath, black bill, legs and feet. I asked for the body to be brought to me, but it was by then irretrievable. The wings, however, had been cut off, and from these it was possible, through the kindness of Mr. J. D. Macdonald who allowed me to compare them with skins in the British Museum (Natural History), to identify the bird as a Bridled Tern (S. anaithetus). This appears to be the third British record.'
[Col. Salmon has been kind enough to let us see one of the wings of this bird. - Eds.]
Accepted nationally for Wales (Lovegrove, Williams & Williams 1994).
NOT PROVEN
0). 1875 Essex Lightship at the mouth of the Thames, adult, obtained, September, now at the Booth Museum, Brighton.
(H. Saunders, Zoologist 1877: 213-216; Yarrell, 1871-85; Smart, 1886; Ticehurst, 1909; Glegg, 1929).
[Saunders, 1899; Witherby, 1920-24; H. F. Witherby, British Birds 28: 94; BOURC (1934), Ibis 76: 635; Witherby et al., 1940-52; Wood, 2007].
History Howard Saunders (1877) in The Zoologist, 3rd series, Vol. I. p. 213, says: 'Some months ago Mr. E. Bidwell whose name will be familiar to readers of the Zoologist, and who is unremitting in his researches for rarities in the markets and neighbourhood of London, asked me to examine a specimen of a Tern in the possession of a local birdstuffer, named Barton, residing near the West India Docks. It proved to be an adult example of the Smaller Sooty Tern, Sterna anaetheta, Scop., a species not hitherto recorded even as a straggler to the British or indeed to the European coasts, and it bore every appearance of having been recently mounted "from the flesh". Mr. Bidwell subsequently purchased it, and at his request I exhibited it at the meeting of the Zoological Society at Hanover Square, on the 6th of February, 1877.
The following letter, addressed to him by the son of the man from whom he purchased it, contains all the information that has yet been obtained as regards the locality where the specimen was procured: - "The Tern you purchased of [off] my father was brought to him in the flesh by one of the Trinity-House men who had just returned from duty on board a lightship at the mouth of the Thames in September, 1875. My father skinned the bird and brought it to me to stuff. The skin was perfectly fresh then, and portions of the flesh were adhering to it. I cleaned the skin and set it up". Mr. Bidwell and I interviewed both father and son on the matter, and there does not seem to be the slightest ground for doubting that the specimen in question really was obtained somewhere at the mouth of the Thames as stated. The man who brought it in, returned to his duty, and unless he reads this or revisits either of the Bartons with some other bird "out of the common", we shall probably remain in ignorance as to the precise lightship where the bird was taken, doubtless during the equinoctial gales, as it was in September.'
Howard Saunders (1882-84 (3): 565-566, 4th ed.) in Yarrell's British Birds, says: 'The Smaller Sooty Tern, is believed by the Editor to have straggled to one of the lightships at the mouth of the Thames, in September 1875. Both Mr. Bidwell, in whose collection the specimen now is, and the Editor, interviewed the local bird-stuffer, who stated that he mounted it "from the flesh", and they were convinced of the truth of the assertion; the evidence is not, however, sufficiently perfect to warrant the introduction of this species as a British bird. Details are given in the Zoologist for 1877 (p. 213).'
Smart (1886: 68) says: 'Mr. Saunders says of the single occurrence "The smaller Sooty Tern (Sterna anaetheta, Scopoli), is believed by the Editor to have straggled to one of the lightships at the mouth of the Thames, in September, 1875. Both Mr. Bidwell, in whose collection the specimen now is, and the Editor interviewed the local bird-stuffer who stated that he mounted it "from the flesh" and they were convinced of the truth of his assertion, the evidence is however not sufficiently perfect to warrant the introduction of this species as a British bird". Surely the evidence could scarcely be more complete; it could not have been an escaped bird.'
Saunders (1899: 654, 2nd ed.) in a footnote, says: '...the evidence is slightly imperfect.'
Glegg (1929: 253-254) says: 'Mr. Saunders rejected this bird in his Manual, with the statement that "the evidence is slightly imperfect", but there can be no doubt that he was originally satisfied with the evidence of the Bartons. Fortunately we still have with us Mr. Bidwell, who has assured me that he still has no reason to doubt the history of this bird. The specimen was purchased for ten guineas, in May 1904, by Mr. J. B. Nichols, in whose collection I recently saw it.'
H. F. Witherby (1934) in British Birds, Vol. XXVIII. p. 94, says: 'In the Practical Handbook (Vol. II. p. 720, Note) it is mentioned that a specimen of this Tern was said to have been taken on a lightship at the mouth of the Thames in September, 1875, as recorded by Howard Saunders (Zool., 1877, p. 213), but the same author did not consider the evidence sufficiently perfect to warrant the introduction of the species as a British bird in the fourth edition of Yarrell (Vol. III. p. 566).
The authorities at the Booth Museum, Brighton, where this bird now is, kindly sent it up for examination, and it was found that it was completing a moult from winter to summer plumage with a number of new (still in sheaths) entirely black feathers on the crown and mantle. The date, September, must therefore be wrong, and this is a final reason for rejecting the record.'
BOURC (1934) in The Ibis, Vol. LXXVI. pp. 634-635, in the Tenth List Report, say: 'This specimen has recently been examined by Messrs. Witherby and Kinnear and found to be in summer plumage, with a number of new feathers growing, those on the crown and mantle being entirely black, and, therefore, clearly belonging to the summer plumage.
The date, September, is thus undoubtedly incorrect, and this fact finally disposes of the authenticity of the record, which was never corroborated.'
Wood (2007: 59) states that this specimen is in the Booth Museum of Natural History, Brighton, but that the record has been discredited.
Comment This bird was moulting from winter to summer plumage, making the date inconsistent. Not acceptable.
