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Royal Tern colonies are impressive! Thousands of these silvery-gray, crow-sized seabirds gather in large and dense breeding aggregations on small sandy islands along the coast. They tend nests of sand and sit shoulder to shoulder creating a mosaic carpet of orange bills, black crests, and silvery-gray plumage. Intermingled with the royals are their smaller cousins, the Sandwich Terns, which are easily distinguished by their size and black bills tipped in yellow.

We are happy to report that the Royal Terns have returned to Audubon's Wainwright Island Sanctuary. In four short years, the number of these seabirds has increased from 0 in 1996 to several thousand today. This dramatic increase is not by chance. It is due to the hard work and cooperation between National Audubon's North Carolina Sanctuary Program, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. In 1997, Audubon worked with these and other governmental agencies to restore seven acres of sandy nesting habitat for royal and sandwich terns.

Dredging is a common practice along our coast. The sand from these projects, provided it is good, clean sand, can be a very important tool in the management of colonial waterbirds. Using this sand to restore and maintain nesting sites provides a beneficial use for sand that was once considered "spoil."

The sand from dredging projects, provided it is good, clean, coarse sand, can be a very important tool in the management of colonial waterbirds.

Using this sand to restore and maintain nesting sites provides a beneficial use for sand that was once considered "spoil."