Individual study: Installation of an electric fence successfully prevents fox Vulpes vulpes predation at a sandwich tern Sterna sandvicensis breeding colony, Sands of Forvie National Nature Reserve, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Published source details
Forster J.A. (1975) Electric fencing to protect sandwich terns against foxes. Biological Conservation, 7
This study is summarised as evidence for the intervention(s) shown on the right. The icon shows which synopsis it is relevant to.
Protect bird nests using electric fencing
A before-and-after study in 1973 and 1984 on a sand spit in eastern Scotland (Forster 1975) found that the number of sandwich terns Sterna sandvicensis nesting in a colony increased from approximately 80 pairs in 1973 to approximately 450 pairs in 1974, following the erection of a 45 cm high electric fence to separate the colony from the mainland. Previous low numbers were attributed to red fox Vulpes vulpes predation, but after the fence was erected only a single fox was recorded breaching the fence and this animal did not approach the terns.