LIVE TERN AND PUFFIN WEBCAM

More info: The webcam is located at the RSPB Coquet Island seabird sanctuary and shows seabirds including puffins, Sandwich Terns, Arctic Terns and Roseate Terns. Coquet Island is home to 40,000 breeding seabirds and is the only UK breeding site for Roseate Terns.

Roseate terns are slender, delicately built seabirds with a straight, thin, pointed bill, long, pointed wings, and a very long, forked tail that extends beyond the wingtips when the bird is at rest. In summer adults have a pinkish tinge to their underparts which gives them their name.

Roseate terns are one of Europe's rarest seabirds. They nest in colonies, often alongside other terns and black-headed gulls, which helps to protect their eggs and chicks from predators. The nest is a shallow scrape on the ground, but they will happily use special nest boxes placed on the floor.

Roseate terns generally lay one to two eggs, rarely three. Incubation is carried out by both parents (though the female may do more) for 21-26 days. The young are fed by both their parents and they may move away from the nest for better shelter several days after hatching. Their first flight is usually at the age of 27-30 days, but they remain with their parents for at least 2 months more. Roseate terns usually do not breed until they are 3 years old.

Roseate terns are a summer visitor to the UK and are usually the last breeding tern species to return each year, rarely arriving before May. The European population of roseate terns winters exclusively in West Africa, though ringing returns have shown that some transatlantic migration does take place.