In 2014, Jessica Carloni, a MS Student at UNH Department of Resources who is advised by Erik Chapman (NH Sea Grant/UNH Cooperative Extension) will begin research that will be aimed at Improving our understanding of common tern foraging behavior, post-breeding and non-breeding habitat use and migration. She will also be conducting a Northeast regional assessment of research and network needs for conservation of both common (NH State Threatened Species) and roseate (Federally Endangered Species) terns. Her research will involve using two tagging technologies, including radio-tagging and Global Positioning System (GPS) tagging that will improve our understanding of tern foraging behavior and post-breeding habitat use and migration. The GPS tags can be programmed to provide 50 locations at any time during their deployment. The trick is, you must recover the tag to get the data – fortunately, common terns may be captured reliably multiple times while they are nesting. Stay tuned for updates as this research unfolds!
