Philatelic Aspects of Ascension

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					The Wideawake Tern
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Known as the Sooty Tern in other parts of the world, here it is best known for it's call of "Wide awake!", and it gives the island it's second name. It is a graceful bird with a forked tail and pointed wings, generally white below and black above with a white patch on the forehead. Their main food is fish and squid. They are widely distributed around the world in tropical latitudes. On Ascension they breed in colonies called "Fairs", the main ones being in the south-west corner of the island, Mars Bay Fair, and Waters Edge Fair, but they are also found in small numbers on Boatswain Bird Island. In 1998 there were adjudged to be 400,000 birds in the two main colonies.