The Fairy Tern Gygis Alba on Ascension Island

SUMMARY The Fairy Tern was found to have an annual breeding season at Ascension, laying about January. Individual pairs laid on the same ledge in successive seasons with an interval of close to a year. The growth of the chick was variable and slow, a characteristic shared by other Ascension species. The breeding success was higher than in other species of the area, being about 30% in two seasons. The moult was found to be somewhat irregular and, on the available data, puzzling, an unusual feature by comparison with the other local terns. Food and feeding methods are described; pelagic fish of many species were taken. Some observations on behaviour, and some adaptations to cliff‐nesting (particularly anti‐predator responses, in spite of an absence of predators at Ascension), are discussed.