An adult tern flies into the colony with two small fish - probably sand lance - to feed its chicks.  Terns forage by plunging into the water to catch fish and invertebrates swimming close to the surface. Sometimes they pursue flying insects in the air.  Around Sable Island one of the mainstays of terns' diet is the slender, silvery sand lance.  They also catch small fish such as blennies, and the larval forms of mackerel and herring.

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