Long-distance breeding dispersal is infrequent among seabirds and has rarely been quantified. Six adult Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) that had bred at colony sites in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, USA from 2004–2006 switched regions and moved 200–400 km to two colony sites in Maine between 2005 and 2007. Two of the emigrants presumably had nested for at least eight years in Massachusetts before moving to Maine, demonstrating that even long-time philopatric residents of one region may switch to another region.