Colony Relocation of Greater Crested Terns Thalasseus Bergii in Bass Strait, South-Eastern Australia
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Australian Field Ornithology 2020, 37, 166–171 http://dx.doi.org/10.20938/afo37166171 Colony relocation of Greater Crested Terns Thalasseus bergii in Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia Aymeric Fromant1, 2*, Yonina H. Eizenberg1, Rosalind Jessop3, Arnaud Lec’hvien1, Johanna J. Geeson1 and John P.Y. Arnould1 1School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood VIC 3125, Australia 2Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 du CNRS-La Rochelle Université, 79360 Villiers-en-bois, France 3Victorian Wader Study Group, P.O. Box 1088, Cowes VIC 3922, Australia *Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] Abstract. A newly established Greater Crested Tern Thalasseus bergii colony was observed on Kanowna Island, northern Bass Strait, in December 2019 and was monitored through January 2020. A maximum of 532 ± 28 nests was counted, representing ~15–20% of the known northern Bass Strait breeding population. Resightings of 69 leg-banded individuals (from 3 to 24 years of age) demonstrated that founding individuals originated from colonies in Victoria [The Nobbies on Phillip Island (54%), Corner Inlet Barrier Islands (39%), Mud Islands in Port Phillip Bay (6%)] and one individual from South Australia. Breeding began 2 months later than usual for northern Bass Strait, perhaps because the birds only moved to Kanowna Island after failed nesting attempts elsewhere (Corner Inlet and Phillip Island). Individuals were observed to mainly feed their chicks with Barracouta Thyrsites atun and Jack Mackerel Trachurus declivis, contrasting with the usual predominance of Australian Anchovy Engraulis australis in the diet of this species in the Bass Strait region. This relocation may result from local changes in prey availability and/or a combination of potential human disturbance, predation and storm events. The recent 50% decrease in the number of breeding Greater Crested Terns in Victoria suggests substantial changes in the regional environmental conditions, highlighting the importance of understanding the impact of environmental variations on seabird species. Introduction average depth of 0.8 m (Weller 2007). The chicks are fed predominantly with pelagic fish such as juvenile Jack The Greater Crested Tern Thalasseus bergii is a medium- Mackerel Trachurus declivis and Australian Anchovy sized (320–400 g) seabird breeding in coastal temperate Engraulis australis, a diet that varies among colonies and and tropical habitats (Olsen & Larsson 1995). In south- years (Chiaradia et al. 2002; Weller 2007; McLeay et al. eastern mainland Australia, the main breeding season 2009). occurs between October and January, with each pair incubating a single egg for c. 28 days and both parents In northern Bass Strait, where the population of Greater provisioning the chick for 5 weeks after hatching (Langham Crested Terns is historically established in three main & Hulsman 1986; Chiaradia et al. 2002). The adults colonies along the Victorian coast (Mud Islands, Phillip undertake several short foraging trips per day close to Island with Seal Rocks and The Nobbies, and Corner Inlet the colony (<40 km: McLeay et al. 2010) and dive to an island group: Figure 1) (Harris & Norman 1981; Higgins & Figure 1. Location of the three historic Greater Crested Tern colonies in northern Bass Strait [Mud Islands (MI); Phillip Island (Seal Rock and The Nobbies) (PI); and Corner Inlet with Clonmel Island (CI), Box Bank (BB) and Dream Island (DrI)]; and the newly established colony on Kanowna Island (KI). A small colony of 16 breeding pairs was observed on Dannevig Island (DI) in December 2009 (Minton et al. 2010). Greater Crested Tern colony relocation, Bass Strait 167 Davies 1996; Radford 2019), adult breeders have shown high site fidelity, though local relocation during years of food shortage and juvenile dispersal has been reported (Weller 2007; Radford 2019). Long-term monitoring of these three colonies by the Victorian Wader Study Group revealed substantial annual variations in the numbers of breeding pairs (Radford 2019); this may be a result of early failure to breed or relocation of breeding sites because of food shortages or predation/disturbance (Chiaradia et al. 2002). Although the majority of colonial seabirds exhibit high levels of site fidelity (Bried & Jouventin 2002), Greater Crested Terns exhibit substantial flexibility in their breeding localities when food resources are not spatially and temporally reliable (Crawford et al. 2002). In the present study, we document the establishment of a new Greater Crested Tern breeding colony on Kanowna Island in northern Bass Strait, provide details of the feeding and breeding ecology of the species, and discuss the potential factors that might have contributed to this relocation. Figure 2. Aerial view of the Greater Crested Tern colony Methods on Kanowna Island in December 2019 (colony delimited by the black dashed line). The white dotted line and circles Fieldwork was conducted on Kanowna Island (39°10′S, show, respectively, the presence of a Silver Gull colony and 148°16′E) in northern Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia Australian Fur Seals in the direct vicinity of the Tern nests. Photo: Johanna J. Geeson (Figure 1). Kanowna Island is a small (35 ha) granite island within the Anser Islands Group. It is covered with thick Coast Tussock Grass Poa poiformis on the upper breeding area of the Australian Fur Seal colony (Lourie parts and with a mix of Angular Pigface Carpobrotus et al. 2014). On 16 December, this Tern colony was well glaucescens and bare soil/rock on the steep periphery. established and a total of 532 ± 28 nests was counted It is a breeding site for a variety of birds, including Cape (Figure 2), with most of the breeding pairs incubating Barren Goose Cereopsis novaehollandiae, Little Penguin one egg. On 13 January 2020, the number of nests was Eudyptula minor, Fairy Prion Pachyptila turtur, Short-tailed estimated at 158 ± 12 and 5–10 young chicks were seen in Shearwater Ardenna tenuirostris, Common Diving-Petrel the colony. On 20 January, there were no birds incubating Pelecanoides urinatrix, Sooty Oystercatcher Haematopus eggs or brooding chicks, and the colony was limited to a fuliginosus, Silver Gull Larus novaehollandiae, Pacific crèche of 20–25 chicks. At this time, a total of ~1600 adults Gull L. pacificus and Forest Raven Corvus tasmanicus was counted on four different roosting sites on the island (Schumann et al. 2014; Fromant et al. 2020). and on off-shore rocks. During concurrent studies monitoring the Australian Fur Approximately 400 of the Greater Crested Terns seen Seal Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus breeding colony on had been fitted with metal leg-bands and 69 of these were Kanowna Island, drone surveys were conducted regularly successfully identified: they had been banded at the chick (every 3–4 days) from mid October until mid December stage between 1995 and 2016 (Figure 3) and originated 2019. In December, a breeding colony of Greater Crested from colonies in Victoria (The Nobbies at Phillip Island, Terns was observed for the first time on the north-eastern n = 37; Mud Islands, n = 4; and Corner Inlet, n = 27; see tip of the island. The number of breeding pairs was counted Figure 1), and one individual from Troubridge Island, South (three counts by three observers) from a vantage point Australia. In the present study, most of the Terns identified using binoculars. The colony size and breeding status of were resighted for the first time since banding, apart from individuals were monitored three successive times during six individuals that had been previously resighted once. January 2020 to estimate breeding success. Opportunistic All of these previously recorded resights occurred in the observations of banded individuals were conducted with a colony of origin for the respective individuals (The Nobbies spotting telescope (480-mm objective, 32x magnification) or Corner Inlet), from 4 to 13 years after banding (Victorian or a digital SLR camera (Nikon D7000 with 400-mm Wader Study Group unpubl. data). lens) to determine the band numbers. In addition, where possible, prey items provisioned to chicks by adults were Adult Greater Crested Terns were observed to bring photographed for subsequent identification of species back prey to the colony to feed either their partner during (Gaglio et al. 2016). incubation or their chick. There were 108 usable digital images of individuals with prey. In these, the prey species were Barracouta Thyrsites atun (76%) and Jack Mackerel Results (23%) and occasionally unidentified juvenile fish (1%) (Figure 4). The birds were regularly observed to feed No tern colony was visible in the drone aerial images until <1 km from the island, sometimes in large flocks including 28 November 2019, when 100 Greater Crested Terns were Silver Gulls associated with Short-beaked Common observed gathered on the north-eastern edge of the main Dolphins Delphinus delphis. In all the observations, the 168 Australian Field Ornithology A. Fromant et al. Colony of origin Corner Inlet Mud Island Phillip Island Number of resighted terns Number of resighted Breeding year Figure 3. Origin of resighted Greater Crested Terns breeding on Kanowna Island in 2019– 2020: number of individuals, colony of origin and year of banding. All the individuals identified were banded as a chick in their colony of origin. One additional individual (banded as a chick in 2013) from Troubridge Island, South Australia, is not included here. (a) (b) (c) Figure 4. Main prey species caught by Greater Crested Terns breeding on Kanowna Island in January 2020. (a) Barracouta, (b) Jack Mackerel and (c) unidentified juvenile fish. Photos: Aymeric Fromant Terns delivered only a single fresh prey item to their young; variation in environmental conditions in Bass Strait, the in some cases, the prey was still alive. divergent trends of breeding pairs at the colony level suggest important population movements (Radford 2019). Greater Crested Terns have regularly been observed Discussion at Kanowna Island, feeding in the vicinity and resting on surrounding islets, over the last 23 years (JPYA unpubl.