180 J. Field Ornithol. 73(2):180–184, 2002 Banded Roseate Terns from different continents trapped in the Azores Helen Hays, 1,4 Vero ´nica Neves, 2 and Pedro Lima 3 1 Great Gull Island Project, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, New York 10034 USA 2 Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas, Universidade dos Ac ¸ores, 9901-8620 Horta, Portugal 3 Cetrel S/A Empressa De Protec ¸a ˜o Ambiental Do Polo Petroquimı ´co De Camacari, Interligac ¸a ˜o Estrada Do Coco Km 9, CEP 42810, 000, Camacari, Bahia, Brazil Received 14 December 2000; accepted 1 June 2001 ABSTRACT. Banded Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) trapped on nests in the Azores illustrate that, during the nonbreeding season, birds from the Azores are found on the coast of Africa in groups of Roseate Terns from northern Europe and on the coast of South America with birds from the northeastern U.S. and the Caribbean. One Roseate Tern, probably originally banded on a nest in a western Atlantic colony, suggests the possibility of gene flow between these colonies and the Azores. SINOPSIS. Individuos de Sterna dougallii, anillados en diferentes continentes atrapados en las Azores Individuos anillados de Sterna dougallii, atrapados en las Azores, demuestran que durante la e ´poca no reproduc- tiva, estas aves se encuentran en la costa de A ´ frica con otros miembros de su especie que se originan de Europa y otros se encuentran en las costas de Sur Ame ´rica con individuos del noreste de los E.U.A. y el Caribe. Un individuo, aparentemente anillado en una colonia de la parte oeste del Atla ´ntico, sugiere la posibilidad de flujo gene ´tico entre esas colonias y las de las Azores. Key words: Brazil, Ghana, migration, movement, recoveries, Sterna dougallii In the western hemisphere, Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) breed on both sides of the north Atlantic. In the 20th century their pop- ulations underwent substantial reductions in numbers (Gochfeld 1983; Everett et al. 1987; Cabot 1996). Analyses of band recoveries from the U.S. population (Hamilton 1981; Nisbet 1984) and the British Isles (Langham 1971) give us an idea of the timing and routes Roseate Terns take when they migrate south. Most re- coveries of Roseate Terns are of young birds on their first fall migration (Mead 1978; Dunn 1981; Hamilton 1981; Cabot 1996). There are relatively few recoveries for the period January– March on either side of the Atlantic; however, Hays et al. (1997, 1999) report large roosting concentrations of Roseate Terns during these months on the coast of Bahia, Brazil, between 11°27'S and 17°33'S. Recoveries and resightings of color-banded Roseate Terns from Britain, Ireland, and the 4 Corresponding author. Email: hays@amnh. org Azores have been made on the coast of Ghana through December (Everett et al. 1987; del Nevo et al. 1990, 1993; del Nevo 1993; Cabot 1996). There are three recoveries of Azores Ro- seate Terns on the African coast (L. Monteiro, pers. comm.). These birds were banded as chicks in June 1995 at Santa Maria, Azores: G5212 and G5323 were found dead at Abi- djan, Ivory Coast, on 16 November 1995, and G5234 was found dead in Ghana on 10 Janu- ary 1997. Only a few observations of Roseate Terns have been made after December in Gha- na. A. Smith counted 700–1000 Roseate Terns on the Tema breakwater in January and Feb- ruary 1970 (Dunn 1981), and Everett et al. (1987) counted 70 on the same breakwater in January–February 1986. There is no informa- tion in the literature as to where Azores Roseate Terns can be found after December. Recovery data from both sides of the Atlantic are for the most part based on bands from birds found dead, but also include some data from banded birds that were netted and released. For the remainder of this paper, a recovery will refer to a dead banded bird.