The Common Tern is a symbol of resilience, ecological renewal, and Hoboken’s commitment to a sustainable future.

On July 10, 2024, the Hoboken City Council voted unanimously to designate the Common Tern as Hoboken’s Honorary Bird.

Hoboken’s rich history is a tapestry woven through its ever-changing waterfront. From an island cherished by the Lenni Lenape for millennia, to a Dutch settlement, to a pastoral getaway for New Yorkers, to a bustling trans-Atlantic port welcoming waves of German, Irish, Italian, and other immigrants, Hoboken has continuously evolved. Over the last half century, the waterfront has been once again transformed from a declining industrial area to a series of vibrant parks.

More recently, efforts to heal the polluted Hudson River and to cultivate more sustainable practices have ushered in a return of an inhabitant who arrives from as far away as South America, and who – like their predecessors – adds a new chapter to Hoboken’s story.

In 2013, the Common Tern chose a waterfront pier in Hoboken as its nesting site. Considered a species of special concern in New Jersey and threatened in New York, this bird’s return to our shores signaled a triumphant moment for biodiversity in the Hudson River. Once heavily polluted and nearly devoid of life, Hoboken’s waterfront is now a testament to post-Sandy resilience and decades of shared efforts to heal our coastal environment. The terns’ presence is a beacon of hope for a sustainable future, showcasing Hoboken’s harmony with nature.

These elegant birds, with their black, white, and gray plumage, and their contrasting red bills and feet swoop and plunge along our waters, helping anglers, by signaling the presence of schools of fish. Their nests, called scrapes, are made on sand or gravel, where they typically lay 2 to 3 eggs. In their colonies, each pair defends a small space around their nest while sharing other resources, mirroring Hoboken’s community spirit.

The Common Tern’s return is perfectly timed. Typical colonies flourish when nesting sites are limited and food is unpredictable. Hoboken’s terns benefit from their numbers as they defend their territories against predators and provide each other with information about food sources. Their cooperative nature increases their odds of successful foraging, echoing the Mile Square’s collaborative spirit.

Since 2013, these terns have been nesting in Hoboken, with official and unofficial counts starting in 2020. That year, a devoted resident counted 10 birds, with numbers rising to 20-24 in 2021, 40 in 2022, and peaking at 86 terns in the summer of 2023 when they were easily seen flourishing on a private pier between the 12th Street Pier and Pier 13. This remarkable growth reflects our community’s increased devotion to the nature around us.

Despite our bird’s local success, the Common Tern population remains in steep decline, and their nesting site in Hoboken faces threats. Just as we manage our landscape to prevent flooding, Common Terns quickly add vegetation, bones, shell fragments, and anything else they can find to raise their nests when threatened by high water. This behavior mirrors our efforts to manage and mitigate flooding, highlighting our shared need to live in harmony with the river.

It is believed that some recent additions to the Hoboken colony originated from Governor’s Island, having relocated after a disturbance at their previous site. This underscores the importance of Hoboken’s citizens to provide these birds with a safe haven, for if we do not, who will?

Their story is our story—one of renewal, resilience, and responsibility. Join “Our Tern” in celebrating and protecting this incredible symbol of our community.