Sandwich Terns to Isla Rasa, Gulf of California, Mexico, with Our Observations of Single Individuals in 1986 and Again in 2008
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TREND NOTE Number 021, October 2012
SCOTTISH NATURAL HERITAGE TREND NOTE Number 021, October 2012 SEABIRDS IN SCOTLAND Prepared by Simon Foster and Sue Marrs of SNH Knowledge Information Management Unit using results from the Seabird Monitoring Programme and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee Scotland has internationally important populations of several seabirds. Their conservation is assisted through a network of designated sites. Figure 1 shows the distribution of the 50 Special Protection Areas (SPA) which have seabirds listed as a feature of interest. The map shows the widespread nature of the sites and the predominance of important seabird areas on the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland), where some of our largest seabird colonies are present. The most recent estimate of seabird populations was obtained from Birds of Scotland (Forrester et al., 2007). Table 1 shows the population levels for all seabirds regularly breeding in Scotland. Table 1: Population Estimates for Breeding Seabirds in Scotland. Figure 1: Special Protection Areas for Seabirds Breeding in Scotland. Species* Unit** Estimate Key Points Northern fulmar 486,000 AOS Manx shearwater 126,545 AOS Trends are described for 11 of the 24 European storm-petrel 31,570+ AOS species of seabirds breeding in Leach’s storm-petrel 48,057 AOS Scotland Northern gannet 182,511 AOS Great cormorant c. 3,600 AON Nine have shown sustained declines European shag 21,500-30,000 PAIRS over the past 20 years. Two have Arctic skua 2,100 AOT remained stable. Great skua 9,650 AOT The reasons for the declines are Black headed -
Aspects of Breeding Behavior of the Royal Tern (Sterna Maxima) with Particular Emphasis on Prey Size Selectivity
W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1984 Aspects of Breeding Behavior of the Royal Tern (Sterna maxima) with Particular Emphasis on Prey Size Selectivity William James Ihle College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Ihle, William James, "Aspects of Breeding Behavior of the Royal Tern (Sterna maxima) with Particular Emphasis on Prey Size Selectivity" (1984). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539625247. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-4aq2-2y93 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ASPECTS OF BREEDING BEHAVIOR OF THE ROYAL TERN (STERNA MAXIMA) n WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON PREY SIZE SELECTIVITY A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Biology The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by William J. Ihle 1984 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 1MI \MLu Author Approved, April 1984 Mitchell A. Byrd m Stewart A. Ware R/ft R. Michael Erwin DEDICATION To Mom, for without her love and encouragement this thesis would not have been completed. FRONTISPIECE. Begging royal tern chick and its parent in the creche are surrounded by conspecific food parasites immediate!y after a feeding. -
Lady's Island Lake Tern Report 2011
Lady’s Island Lake Tern Report 2011. David Daly, C.J.Wilson & Tony Murray 1 The author and the area ranger, on behalf of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (Department of Arts, Heritage & and the Gaeltacht), wish to acknowledge the support of the landowners and rights holders of Our Ladys Island Lake with the management of the tern conservation project throughout the year. 2 Contents page Site synopsis…………………………………………………………….. 4 Acknowledgements………………………………………………………… 5 Site map…………………………………………………………………… 6 Lady’s Island Tern Report Summary…………………………………………………………………… 7 Methods Preparatory work…………………………………………………………… 8 Vegetation management Predator control…………………………………………………………… 9 Monitoring of disturbance…………………………………………………. 13 Feral Greylag Geese……………………………………………………….. 14 Location of island and colonies Censusing ………………………………………………………………. 15 Water levels……………………………………………………………. 19 Weather…………………………………………………………………. 21 Location of colonies…………………………………………………… 22 Productivity & feeding biology of Roseate & Sandwich terns ………… 23 Species accounts . Black-headed Gulls……………………………………………………… 24 Mediterranean Gulls…………………………………………………….. 27 Common Gulls………………………………………………………….. 30 Sandwich Terns………………………………………………………… 31 Common/Arctic terns…………………………………………………… 37 Little Terns………………………………………………………………. 42 Roseate Terns……………………………………………………………. 43 Other species……………………………………………………………… 51 3 SITE SYNOPSIS SITE NAME: LADY'S ISLAND Site codes SAC: 000704 SPA: 004010 Lady’s Island Lake is situated in the extreme south-east of Ireland and is comprised of a shallow, brackish coastal lagoon separated from the sea by a 200 meter wide sand and shingle barrier. The lake is 3.7 km in length and 1.3 km at its widest, southerly point. The lake and its two islands, Inish and Sgarbheen, are designated Special Protection Areas (SPA), holding internationally important numbers of breeding terns. This site is of high conservation importance, having three habitats which are listed on Annex I of the EU Habitats Directive and one of these (lagoons) with priority status. -
Nest Spacing in Elegant Terns: Hexagonal Packing Revisited Charles T
WESTERN BIRDS Volume 39, Number 2, 2008 NEST SPACING IN ELEGANT TERNS: HEXAGONAL PACKING REVISITED CHARLES T. COLLINS and MICHAEL D. TAYLOR, Department of Biological Sci- ences, California State University, Long Beach, California 90840 (current address of Taylor: Santiago Canyon College, 8045 East Chapman Ave., Orange, California 92869); [email protected] ABSTRACT: Within an important breeding colony in southern California, Elegant Terns (Thalasseus elegans) nest in one to several tightly packed clusters. Inter-nest distances within these clusters average 31.2 cm. This value is less than that reported for the larger-bodied Royal Tern (T. maximus) and Great Crested Tern (T. bergii). For Elegant Terns, the modal number of adjacent nests was six (range 5–7). This type of nest arrangement has been previously described as hexagonal packing and now appears to be typical of all Thalasseus terns for which data are available. Many seabirds nest in large, often traditional, colonies (Coulson 2002, Schreiber and Burger 2002). The ontogeny of annual colony formation has been reviewed by Kharitonov and Siegel-Causey (1988), and the evolution- ary processes which have led to coloniality have been considered by a number of authors (Lack 1968, Fischer and Lockley 1974, Wittenburger and Hunt 1985, Siegel-Causey and Kharitonov 1990, Coulson 2002). Seabird colonies may be rather loosely organized aggregations of breeding pairs of one to several species at a single site. At the other extreme, they may be dense, tightly packed, largely monospecific clusters where distances between nests are minimal. A graphic example of the latter is the dense clustering of nests recorded for several species of crested terns (Buckley and Buckley 1972, 2002, Hulsman 1977, Veen 1977, Symens and Evans 1993, Burness et al. -
Comparative Breeding Biology of the Sandwich Tern
COMPARATIVE BREEDING BIOLOGY OF THE SANDWICH TERN N.P.E. LANOHAM PREVIOUSstudies on the biologyof the SandwichTern (Thalasseussand- vicensis) include those of Dircksen (1932), a brief comparative account by Cullen (1960a), and a general account by Marples and Marples (1934). Some aspects of its breeding behavior have been described by Desselberger (1929), Steinbacher (1931), Assem (1954a, 1954b), and Cullen (1960b). None of these accountsrecords breeding success or gives details of factors influencing it in this species. In the present study, the Sandwich Tern's breeding biology was examined in conjunc- tion with simultaneousstudies on the Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii), CommonTern (S. hirundo), and Arctic Tern (S. paradisaea). TttE STUDY AREA The study area was on Coquet Island, Northumberland, England, 55ø 38' N, 1ø 37z W, about 32 km south-southeast of the Farne Islands, the next nearest breedingstation for the four speciesof terns mentioned above. Coquet Island is a low island about 1.6 ha in area, rising only some 10 m above sea level and mostly covered with vegetation. It is composed of sandstone and has been eroded so that extensive shelves of rock are exposed at low tide. The island itself has steep edges with an almost flat top. The lighthouse grounds occupy 1,O00 m-ø, and tracts of stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) not occupied by terns comprise a further 2,500 m-ø. This leaves about 12,750 m2 available to the terns. Historical records around 1830 (Marples and Marples 1934) refer to the oc- currence of all four species of tern on Coquet Island. The construction of the lighthouse buildings in 1834, with cultivation of the island, and the introduction of domestic animals, evidently disturbed the terns breeding there and led to their disappearance about 1882 (Marples and Marples 1934). -
Environmental Contaminants in Arctic Tern Eggs from Petit Manan Island
U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE MAINE FIELD OFFICE SPECIAL PROJECT REPORT: FY96-MEFO-6-EC ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS IN ARCTIC TERN EGGS FROM PETIT MANAN ISLAND Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge Milbridge, Maine May 2001 Mission Statement U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “Our mission is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance the nation’s fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.” Suggested citation: Mierzykowski S.E., J.L. Megyesi and K.C. Carr. 2001. Environmental contaminants in Arctic tern eggs from Petit Manan Island. USFWS. Spec. Proj. Rep. FY96-MEFO-6-EC. Maine Field Office. Old Town, ME. 40 pp. Report reformatted 1/2009 U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE MAINE FIELD OFFICE SPECIAL PROJECT REPORT: FY96-MEFO-6-EC ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS IN ARCTIC TERN EGGS FROM PETIT MANAN ISLAND Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge Milbridge, Maine Prepared by: Steven E. Mierzykowski1, Jennifer L. Megyesi2, and Kenneth C. Carr3 1 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Maine Field Office 1033 South Main Street Old Town, Maine 04468 2 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge Main Street, P.O. Box 279 Milbridge, Maine 04658 3 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service New England Field Office 70 Commercial Street, Suite 300 Concord, New Hampshire 03301-5087 May 2001 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Petit Manan Island is a 3.5-hectare (~ 9 acre) island that lies approximately 4-kilometers (2.5-miles) from the coastline of Petit Manan Point, Steuben, Washington County, Maine. It is one of nearly 40 coastal islands within the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge. -
SHOREBIRDS (Charadriiformes*) CARE MANUAL *Does Not Include Alcidae
SHOREBIRDS (Charadriiformes*) CARE MANUAL *Does not include Alcidae CREATED BY AZA CHARADRIIFORMES TAXON ADVISORY GROUP IN ASSOCIATION WITH AZA ANIMAL WELFARE COMMITTEE Shorebirds (Charadriiformes) Care Manual Shorebirds (Charadriiformes) Care Manual Published by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in association with the AZA Animal Welfare Committee Formal Citation: AZA Charadriiformes Taxon Advisory Group. (2014). Shorebirds (Charadriiformes) Care Manual. Silver Spring, MD: Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Original Completion Date: October 2013 Authors and Significant Contributors: Aimee Greenebaum: AZA Charadriiformes TAG Vice Chair, Monterey Bay Aquarium, USA Alex Waier: Milwaukee County Zoo, USA Carol Hendrickson: Birmingham Zoo, USA Cindy Pinger: AZA Charadriiformes TAG Chair, Birmingham Zoo, USA CJ McCarty: Oregon Coast Aquarium, USA Heidi Cline: Alaska SeaLife Center, USA Jamie Ries: Central Park Zoo, USA Joe Barkowski: Sedgwick County Zoo, USA Kim Wanders: Monterey Bay Aquarium, USA Mary Carlson: Charadriiformes Program Advisor, Seattle Aquarium, USA Sara Perry: Seattle Aquarium, USA Sara Crook-Martin: Buttonwood Park Zoo, USA Shana R. Lavin, Ph.D.,Wildlife Nutrition Fellow University of Florida, Dept. of Animal Sciences , Walt Disney World Animal Programs Dr. Stephanie McCain: AZA Charadriiformes TAG Veterinarian Advisor, DVM, Birmingham Zoo, USA Phil King: Assiniboine Park Zoo, Canada Reviewers: Dr. Mike Murray (Monterey Bay Aquarium, USA) John C. Anderson (Seattle Aquarium volunteer) Kristina Neuman (Point Blue Conservation Science) Sarah Saunders (Conservation Biology Graduate Program,University of Minnesota) AZA Staff Editors: Maya Seaman, MS, Animal Care Manual Editing Consultant Candice Dorsey, PhD, Director of Animal Programs Debborah Luke, PhD, Vice President, Conservation & Science Cover Photo Credits: Jeff Pribble Disclaimer: This manual presents a compilation of knowledge provided by recognized animal experts based on the current science, practice, and technology of animal management. -
90 FIRST RECORD of ELEGANT TERN in FLORIDA 3803 Cloverhill Court, Brandon, FL 33511 E-Mail:[email protected] on 3 October 1999
90 Florida Field Naturalist 29(3):90-94, 2001. FIRST RECORD OF ELEGANT TERN IN FLORIDA ED KWATER 3803 Cloverhill Court, Brandon, FL 33511 E-mail:[email protected] On 3 October 1999, Greg Butcher and I led a field trip to Honeymoon Island State Recreational Area, Pinellas County, Florida, as part of the second annual Florida Bird- ing Festival. At 09:15 we located a large flock of terns (Sterna spp.) at the “Pet Beach,” a long, sandy beach at the southwestern corner of the island. There were at least 4,000 Common Terns (S. hirundo), 500 Forster’s Terns (S. forsteri), and 400 Sandwich Terns (S. sandvicensis), but very few Royal Terns (S. maxima). During our scrutiny of the tern flocks an Elegant Tern (S. elegans) landed directly in front of us. This constitutes the first record of this Pacific Coast species for Florida. The Elegant Tern was present for 45 minutes, allowing approach to within 40 m. De- tailed field notes and photographs were taken. The bird was seen almost daily at the Pet Beach until its final appearance in Pelican Cove at the north end of the island on 22 No- vember 1999 (Pranty 2000). A number of photographs were taken of the bird during its stay and three of these, by Lee Snyder, are reproduced here (Figs. 1-3). Identification of the Elegant Tern was relatively straightforward, and was based on the following characters. In size the bird was noticeably smaller than a Royal Tern but slightly larger than a Sandwich Tern in direct comparison with both species. -
Evaluation of Long-Term Habitat and Colonial Waterbird Dynamics of Shamrock Island, Nueces County, Texas
EVALUATION OF LONG-TERM HABITAT AND COLONIAL WATERBIRD DYNAMICS OF SHAMROCK ISLAND, NUECES COUNTY, TEXAS by Carolyn Gorman and Elizabeth H. Smith Center for Coastal Studies Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi 6300 Ocean Drive, NRC 3200 Corpus Christi, Texas 78411 prepared for Thomas Calnan Coastal Biologist Coastal Management Division Texas General Land Office 1700 North Congress Avenue Austin, TX 78701-1495 October 16, 2001 EVALUATION OF LONG-TERM HABITAT AND COLONIAL WATERBIRD DYNAMICS OF SHAMROCK ISLAND, NUECES COUNTY, TEXAS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Shamrock Island is a naturally formed island located west of Mustang Island, along the eastern portion of Corpus Christi Bay, Texas. This 30-ha island is comprised of a diversity of coastal habitat types and is an extremely important nesting site for colonial waterbirds. Shamrock Island became a Preserve through acquisition by The Nature Conservancy of Texas (TNCT) in 1995. This action as well as a conservation easement owned by the Texas General Land Office ensures perpetual protection of the island from development. During the latter part of 1990s, a restoration project was designed to minimize erosion along the northern and western portions of the island. A comprehensive review of historic studies on Shamrock Island was undertaken to assess existing knowledge of the natural and anthropogenic changes of Shamrock Island. GIS interpretation of the areal extent of unvegetated habitat, and the analysis of the colonial waterbird database on ground-nesting species abundance, were conducted to assist in the development of a management strategy for the island. A decadal analysis of digitized aerial photographs from 1980, 1990, and 1999 reaffirmed that sediment was eroding on the north end of the island and accreting along the southern shore. -
Elegant Terns Breeding in Orange County, California
SCIENCE expansionof the Elegant Tern's breedingrange might be expected (Garrett and Dunn 1981:192). We report herethe establishmentof a ELEGANTTERNS breedingpopulation in Orange County,California, approximately 73 kilometersnorthwest of theonly BREEDINGINORANGE otherUnited States breeding colony locatedin SanDiego Bay. In the latespring and summer of •986, a flockof 200-250__Elegant COUNTY,CALIFORNIA •ernswas present atthe Bolsa Chica EcologicalReserve, Orange County. The 530-acre reserve is a saltmarsh environment managed by the CaliforniaDepartment of Fishand Game.During June the ternsoften spenttime on the groundin dense aggregationson both North and byCharles T. Collins, South Islands, two sand-fill islands thatwere created in 1978as nesting William A. Schew,and EstherBurkett sitesfor the endangeredCalifornia Least Tern (Sterna antillarum THEELEGANT TERN (STERNA ELEGANS) Pacific coast of Baja California browre).The two islandsare located occurscommonly to abundantlyon (Bancroft 1927), have not been in a part of the reservewhich has a the southern and central California activebreeding sites in recentyears mutedtidal regime. These aggrega- coast, particularly from July to (Wilbur 1987, Schaffner1986). tions closely resemblednesting October,when it rangesnorth as far assemblages,and ground courtship asMonterey Bay, San Francisco Bay, displayswere frequently observed and Point Reyes (Small 1974, throughoutthis period. Although Harrison 1983, A.O.U. 1983, the terns made numerous shallow Shufordet al. 1989). It alsooccurs, scrapesin thesand, we could find no lesscommonly, still farther north in eggsor other .evidenceof actual Oregon(Fix andHeinl 1990), and breeding.InlnI•8•, weobserved simi- rarelyin Washingtonand British lar aggregations,particularly on Columbia (Godfrey 1986). The North Island,and t•hi•y_-one p•trs ElegantTern's winter range extends laid eggsin a singlecluster on the southalong the Pacific coast as far as edgeof, and slightly intermixed with, Ecuador,Peru, and Chile (Harrison a groupof nestingCaspian Terns (S. -
Compiled Online Certification Package for the North Anna ISFSI
United States Department of the Interior FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Virginia Field Office 6669 Short Lane Gloucester, VA 23061 Date: Self-Certification Letter Project Name: Dear Applicant: Thank you for using the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) Virginia Ecological Services online project review process. By printing this letter in conjunction with your project review package, you are certifying that you have completed the online project review process for the project named above in accordance with all instructions provided, using the best available information to reach your conclusions. This letter, and the enclosed project review package, completes the review of your project in accordance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544, 87 Stat. 884), as amended (ESA), and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 668-668c, 54 Stat. 250), as amended (Eagle Act). This letter also provides information for your project review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (P.L. 91-190, 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347, 83 Stat. 852), as amended. A copy of this letter and the project review package must be submitted to this office for this certification to be valid. This letter and the project review package will be maintained in our records. The species conclusions table in the enclosed project review package summarizes your ESA and Eagle Act conclusions. These conclusions resulted in: ● “no effect” determinations for proposed/listed species and/or proposed/designated critical habitat; and/or ● “may affect, not likely to adversely affect” determinations for proposed/listed species and/or proposed/designated critical habitat; and/or ● “may affect, likely to adversely affect” determination for the Northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) and relying on the findings of the January 5, 2016 Programmatic Biological Opinion for the Final 4(d) Rule on the Northern long-eared bat; and/or ● “no Eagle Act permit required” determinations for eagles. -
Nesting Behavior of the Gull-Billed Tern
BIRD-BANDING A JOURNAL OF ORNITHOI•OGICAI, INVl•,STIGATION VOL. 49, NO. 1 WINTER 1978 PAGES 1--100 NESTING BEHAVIOR OF THE GULL-BILLED TERN BY HAROLD F. SEARS INTRODUCTION The Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidonnilotica) has a scattered distribution, and its breeding behavior has been little studied in the past (e.g., deWaard, 1952; Lind, 1963a; M•511er,1975). I have therefore made a relativelybroad studyof the breedingbehavior of thisspecies. I present my observationson nestingbehavior here and discussthe antipredator strategyof the Gull-billed Tern. The species'display behavior will be discussed elsewhere. STUDY AREA AND METHODS I spent the springsand summersof 1971, 1972, and 1973 on an unnamed island 0.5 km south of the port at Morehead City, Carteret County, North Carolina.Beaufort Inlet liesto the southeast,and a Spar- tina marsh and Bogue Banks lie to the southwest. Early during eachbreeding season, I watchedthe ternsfrom exposed but distant positionsusing 8 x 24 binocularsor a 15-60 power zoom telescope.As colonieswere established,I positionedburlap blinds at their borders, and observations were made from within the blinds. I usedtime-lapse photography to studyincubation behavior. A Braun- Nizo S-80 movie camera was positionedon a tripod 20 to 30 m from the nest.It wasset to exposeone frame everyfour to five seconds(later determinedexactly) and wasleft in positionfor up to five hours. Gull-billedTerns are quite sensitiveto disturbance;therefore, I did not trap or mark any terns. This meant I could only rarely recognize individuals.The sexeswere not distinguishable,although Lind (1963a) thought he could distinguishmales by their heavier bill.