Endangered Least Terns Thriving In New Home

VIAN, Okla. (AP) -- A 15-acre island in Robert S. Kerr Lake has become a thriving home to an endangered species of migratory bird.<br/><br/>Least tern chicks are hatching and watching their adult companions

Friday, July 21st 2006, 6:22 am

By: News On 6

VIAN, Okla. (AP) -- A 15-acre island in Robert S. Kerr Lake has become a thriving home to an endangered species of migratory bird.

Least tern chicks are hatching and watching their adult companions keep cool in the lake and swirl around their new home.

The newly constructed island was completed in March, just in time for the migration of the birds to Oklahoma.

The island is an experiment, a cooperative effort among several state and federal agencies. If it works, the agencies plan to build several more like it along the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System.

The least terns usually migrate south to Central America and South America after the breeding season. The birds can be viewed along the Arkansas, Canadian, Cimarron and Red rivers.