WINDEN J VAN DER (2004) Interactions between Black Terns Chlidonias niger and humans in Africa. LIMOSA 77 (2): 101-108.

Black Terns use specific, mainly upwelling areas in Africa during northern winter. During the past few years special studies were set up to investigate possible threats to Black Terns in Africa and special attention was given to interactions between fishermen and terns and to age and sex differences in geographical distribution. A first impression of the results is given in this paper. In Ghana huge numbers are present in September-October and it is likely that birds gain body mass in this area after arrival from the breeding areas. During migration nights birds were captured with body masses much lower than those of resident birds. Near shore, Black Terns profit from beach seine activities of local fishermen. However, they feed mainly on escapes outside the net area. In Benin Black Terns benefit from shrimp abundance in coastal lagoons during February-March. Based on food intake calculations, fishermen take about 52 times as much shrimps (2800 ton/year) as the Black Terns (53.5 ton/year). Juvenile (first winter) birds were found in all wintering areas, without major differences in proportion between most countries. However in the brackish lagoons in Benin first winter birds were much more common than elsewhere, indicating areas with special interest for subadults. There were no indications for sex-differences in longitudal distribution. Black Terns are still being caught in Ghana by locals. Observations during the current study were scarce but indicate that at least several hundreds of individuals are still caught on a yearly basis. In the future, emphasis should be put on obtaining insight in the offshore feeding areas and the most important mid-winter feeding areas and spring staging areas, in relation to the growing intensity of Western trawling fisheries. Black Tern Chlidonias niger

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