TapInto Hoboken: City Council Expected to Select Common Tern as Hoboken’s Official BirdTAPinto Hoboken:
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By Matt McCann
HOBOKEN, NJ – The Common Tern is likely to become the official bird of Hoboken with a resolution to ‘Protect the Hoboken Terns & Designate the Common Tern as Hoboken’s Official Bird’ up for a vote at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
The resolution notes that since the Common Terns were hunted for their feathers, by the 1900s only a few thousand remained along the Atlantic Coast and that their arrival in 2013 was a sign of the improved biodiversity of the once heavily polluted Hudson River.
“The City wishes to designate the Common Tern as Hoboken’s official bird as a symbol of resilience, ecological renewal, and Hoboken’s commitment to a sustainable future,” the resolution states.
“This is a good thing that we’re attracting species that were otherwise dwindling,” said Councilwoman Emily Jabbour who is co-sponsoring the resolution along with Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher. She added, the resolution was “partly human interest, but also partly good environmental policy.”
“When you see something good happening — the success in bringing ecological balance back to the Hudson River — it’s a good idea to protect that work and foster it by getting involved, so when community activists reached out to support this initiative, I said of course,” said Jabbour, when asked why she wanted to sponsor this resolution Jabbour also said that designating the Common Tern as Hoboken’s official birds would help ensure sure that there is “both awareness and celebration of how these terns have nested in Hoboken.”
The resolution follows recent controversy surrounding Shipyards Associates, the private owners of Pier 11, who put up nesting deterrents in the spring to prevent the Common Terns from nesting on their property, claiming the birds created an “unsafe environment” with their territorial behavior. Shipyards Associates were also motivated to put up the deterrents as the pier is being used as a workspace in the construction of the Hudson Tunnel Project.
The birds returned to the pier, despite the deterrents, reflecting the Common Terns’ strong fidelity to their original nesting place. The netting led to the number of Common Terns on the pier being greatly reduced this summer with one of them getting caught in the overhead wires, resulting in the bird’s death and the loss of its clutch of eggs.
Following reporting by TAPinto Hoboken and interventions by the City and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, however, Shipyards Associates removed the netting and agreed to place the workspaces for construction of the Hudson Tunnel Project 300 feet away from the colony.
Since the removal of the netting, dozens of common terns have returned to Pier 11 and can once again be seen courting, nesting, and raising their young, as well as acrobatically diving into the river to hunt small surface level fish.
“It’s been such a joy to see the way this special bird brought out the best in Hoboken,” said Jeffrey Train, a local birding enthusiast who has been advocating for the protection of the Common Tern colony. “People love to see these graceful creatures swooping on our shores, and they remind people that our decisions matter.”
Train has recently established a nonprofit called Our Tern to ensure that these and all birds are protected in Hoboken.
“To my knowledge, we are the first to adopt the Common Tern as an official City bird. Don’t be fooled by the name Common Tern. Though it may not be the rarest of species, it is spectacular. Our colony has already overcome so much and embodies the perseverance and tenacity of the Mile Square,” said Train.
Train, along with other advocates, are working with the NJ DEP to locate and find a permanent home for the birds by installing a floating dock near the pier before the next nesting season.