Hoboken Girl: Hoboken’s First-Ever Tern Parade Taking Place From 4/1-6/1 - Our Tern: Protecting Hoboken's Honorary Bird, the Common Tern

By Stephanie Spear

Hoboken’s official honorary bird, the Common Tern, has its own library card and will soon have its own parade throughout town. Local advocacy group Our Tern has been working to raise awareness about the Tern and its habitat, which is the marshy waterfront alongside Hoboken’s shoreline. In honor of the Tern’s role in Hoboken’s ecosystem, Our Tern has partnered with the Hoboken Business Alliance, local artists, local businesses, and community groups to put on a Tern Parade this spring. The event is a community-wide art activation with fun events for residents of all ages, taking place from April 1st through June 1st. Read on for more about Hoboken’s first-ever Tern Parade.

^ The Hoboken Girl’s Tern, designed by Dwight-Englewood School student Eliza

About the Tern

The Common Tern has a long history in the Hudson County area. After being repeatedly hunted for its feathers, the bird was nearly brought to extinction in the early 1900s, and only a few thousand remained on the Atlantic Coast. Fast forward to 2013, and a single pair of Common Terns chose a waterfront pier in Hoboken as its nesting site — a welcome sign of the river’s improved biodiversity. Every year, more and more birds returned, peaking at 86 by 2023.

^ The Common Tern. Photo Credit: Juan Melli

In 2024, the owners of Pier 11, where the birds nested, placed netting and other deterrents on the pier, intending to keep the birds away. The efforts led to the death of at least one of the Common Terns, the birds, but the Tern, which demonstrate a strong fidelity to their nesting sites, continued to arrive. Approximately 10 terns persisted and successfully hatched chicks, but the number of birds at the pier was still much fewer than the previous year.

In an effort to protect the birds, three Hoboken residents responded to this by starting a local advocacy group Our Tern. With the support of other local groups, Jeff Train, Noelle Thurlow, and Juan Melli successfully fought to remove the netting and to ensure that the birds were given adequate space to raise their young. In return, many terns have returned to the pier to nest.

a cartoon of the Common Tern wearing a Hoboken redwing sweatshirt

“The Common Tern is special in that it symbolizes the shared efforts of our community to live sustainability beside the Hudson River. The Common Tern thrives because of the small bait fish once again swimming in our waters. The bait fish thrive because of the microorganisms and invertebrates that have returned to our shores,” per Our Tern.

“Our Tern is an organization devoted to protecting this important, symbolic species on the shores of Hoboken,” the website says. “We are committed to finding long-term solutions so that the Common Tern — a symbol of our ecology’s renewal — continues to grace our waterfront.”

^ Jeff Train, of Our Tern, showing Our Tern’s library card. Photo Credit: Hoboken Public Library

In 2024, Our Tern launched a grassroots advocacy campaign, which resulted in the Common Tern being named Hoboken’s honorary bird. In early 2025, the Tern was honored with a special edition of the Hoboken Library Card.

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The Hoboken Tern Parade

The Hoboken Business Alliance has partnered with Our Tern to host a town-wide Tern Parade from April 1st, 2025 to June 1st, 2025. The parade is a fun way to incorporate Terns into the community, get people talking about Terns and conservation, and show off how creative Hoboken businesses can be. Hoboken businesses and community organizations have been invited to participate, and each will get a Tern decoy to decorate. As of this writing, 37 businesses and organizations have signed up to participate (including The Hoboken Girl!).

^ Eliza, the student who designed HG’s Tern

a tern decoy is painted with the Manhattan skyline

^ The view from Hoboken on a Tern. Photo credit: Justine Uva

Local businesses will get their own Tern decoys to decorate. Some businesses will even incorporate the Terns into the actual businesses — the sky’s the limit with both Terns and the creativity of Hoboken’s business owners. Residents can expect a lot of groan-worthy puns and fowl language. The Our Tern team has created an interactive map for residents to plot their advenTERNures.

Here’s a list of participating businesses as of this writing:

Hoboken Public Library: Beginning 4/10 pick up your Passport to Fun: The Hoboken Tern Parade Scavenger Hunt. Fun and Facts for young and old alike with opporTERNities for prizes!
Sparrow Wine and Liquor: Stop by on Thursday 4/10 and taste 902 Brewery’s Tern inspired creation “Our Tern on Tap.”
As The Earth Terns Sponsored by FBW: Learn about the remarkable comeback story of the Common Tern Thursday 4/17 at the Hoboken Public Library.
Main Street Pops: Spend time with Our Tern, Urban Arts, Resilience Paddle Sports, and much more at the Earth Day celebration on 4/27.
Little City Books: Stop in and Tern the Pages of some amazing bird books and field guides.
Hoboken Historical Museum: Take time to explore the TERNiffic exhibit: The Hoboken Meadows, which explores Hoboken’s Salt Marsh history.
Fleet Feet Turn our for Terns: Join Feet Fleet on Wednesday 6/11 for a fun run with a pit stop to observe the Tern Colony near their nesting grounds.
Mario’s Pizza: Pop in and enjoy a slice of RigaTERNi Pizza.
Better Birding + Beyond: Join Mr. Train for birdwalks, jokes, and facts at the Public Library on Wednesday afternoons in May
Dozzino: Enjoy some great food while coloring and creating a unique Tern ornament.
Tunes: Stop by and request a song on the “Tern Table.”
Hoboken Public Library: Learn the answers to the scavenger hunt questions, vote for your favorite decoy, and find out if you won any prizes on Saturday 6/14.
Schmitty’s Pub: Take time to see the Terns together in one space as Schmitty’s celebrates and “tern, tern, tern” with Dave Lambert on Saturday 6/14.
12th Street Public Pier: The Terns will be on “parade” parallel to the stars of our show, the Tern Colony.

After June 1st, the decoys will be removed from businesses and organizations and will be displayed together in the Hoboken Public Library for two weeks. Then, the flock will be available to see on the 12th Street Public Pier adjacent to the actual Tern Colony as a Grande Finale on Sunday, June 15th.

^ Fiore’s with a Hoboken-themed Tern. Photo Credit: Jeff Train

The Hoboken Tern Parade Scavenger Hunt is an event for young and old alike that runs from Thursday, April 10th through Sunday, June 1st. Neighbors can pick up the Scavenger Hunt passports at the Hoboken Library and several participating local businesses. Along the way, participants can see the amazing artwork designed by local artists, learn fun facts about Our Tern and Hoboken’s ecology, and explore the Mile Square’s participating businesses and organizations in unique ways. Individuals or groups of people can take their time and savor the amazing decoys and information, or they can compete with friends to see it all in one day. Neighbors can stay up to date via Instagram: @ourternhoboken or join the Facebook Group: Our Tern – Hoboken’s Common Terns.