Arctic Terns are long-lived birds that spend considerable time raising only a few young, and are thus said to be K-selected.
Nearby are breeding colonies of Arctic and common terns on the inner Farne Islands, and of Atlantic puffin, shag and razorbill on Staple Island.
The ash lagoons have provided a roost site for gulls, shorebirds and terns; while the seawall provides excellent views of the flocks of sea ducks such as Common Eider, Velvet Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Long-tailed Duck and Common Goldeneye.
Near the estuary mouth, the presence of tern colonies is notable, since there are several distinct species that utilise the north banks of the Ythan Estuary, and comprise a meaningful percentage of the breeding pairs of terns in the United Kingdom.
Although the genus was first described in 1832 by Johann Georg Wagler the four species in the genus were until recently retained in the larger genus Sterna, the genus that most terns are in (Bridge et al., 2005).
:This article documents a bird seen in Norfolk, England in summer 2002 which resembled both Elegant and Lesser Crested Terns to some degree; the article is accompanied by photos of this bird and a presumed Elegant Tern seen in a Florida tern colony in 2002.