Ardea
Official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists' Union

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de Waard S. (1950) Drie broedparen van de Lachstern, Gelochelidon nilotica (Gm.), op 'De Beer', Rozenburg, in 1949. ARDEA 37 (3-4): 161-167
Three nests of the Gull-billed Tern were found on the sandy beach of the 'De Beer' (the bird sanctuary on the island of Rozenburg near Hook of Holland) in 1949. In the neighbourhood of the Gull-billed Terns, mainly Common Terns and some Black-headed Gulls were nesting. Common Terns were continually attacking the Gull-billed Terns on the ground (Plate XX, fig. 2) as well as in the air. The eggs of 2 of the nests were hatched, the clutch of the 3rd one disappeared. In one of the nests a striking difference in colour between the young in down existed (Plate XX, fig. 1). Probably none of the young Terns survived. The current opinion is that the Herring-Gulls are responsible for this fact. Pellets of the Gull-billed Tern showed that the food consisted of fish and mice. Insects were caught too and presented to the young (Plate XIX). Once it was observed that a Gull-billed Tern captured and killed a nestling in down of the Avocet. The breeding of this species in the Netherlands is previously recorded and well in 1931, 1944 and 1945.


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