Hunted for their feathers, by the early 1900s only a few thousand Common Tern pairs remained along the Atlantic Coast. Heavy pollution in the Hudson River left it nearly devoid of life in the 1900s, depleting the food source for these social birds who feed on small fish like Atlantic Silversides. Thanks to decades of efforts to clean up the river, fish and aquatic life have returned – and recently, so have the terns that feed on them.

In 2013, a single pair of Common Terns chose a privately-owned waterfront pier in Hoboken for a nesting site – a welcome sign of the river’s improved biodiversity. Every year, more and more birds returned, peaking at 86 individuals by 2023. 

In 2024, netting and other deterrents were placed on the pier to keep the birds away. The terns, who demonstrate a strong fidelity to their nesting sites, continued to arrive. At least one tern died and a clutch of eggs was lost, but approximately 10 terns persisted, and they successfully fledged chicks. 

As these events transpired, a group of Hoboken residents emerged with a goal to protect the Common Tern. Those individuals successfully advocated to remove the netting and ensure the birds were given adequate space to raise their young. More terns returned to nest and the colony grew to several dozen, with at least a dozen chicks born. On July 10, 2024, the City Council designated the Common Tern Hoboken’s Honorary Bird.

Our Tern is devoted to protecting Hoboken’s honorary bird and committed to finding long-term solutions so that the Common Tern – a symbol of our ecology’s renewal – continues to grace our waterfront. Our current focus is on creating a floating island in northern Hoboken so the terns have a safe place to nest without conflicts with residents and private property owners.