U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Seabird Restoration & Research Efforts: 2020 Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge actively manages six seabird colonies along the Maine coast. We place seasonal technicians on the islands for 10-14 weeks each summer to monitor the seabirds, control predators, and conduct research. Despite all of the challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 seabird nesting season was a success! Our technicians had to isolate from each other for two weeks when they arrived on the islands, we limited the frequency of Refuge visits to the islands, and many monitoring and research efforts were simply canceled if we could not find a way to implement them safely. We focused our efforts on keeping the seabirds safe from predators. Our technicians rose up to the challenge, and worked tirelessly to protect and monitor the colonies. For several of the technicians this was their first job working in wildlife conservation, and they had to continuously adapt their efforts as new guide- lines about Covid were developed by USFWS. Common tern chick We had several conservation highpoints this season. Common murres contin- ued to nest on Matinicus Rock. This was only the fourth year that murre chicks fledged from a Maine island in over 130 years! Technicians working on Matinicus Rock documented at least 12 active burrows. We hope this is the first step in establishing a thriving murre colony on the island. In addition, Seal Island NWR continues to support the largest tern and puffin colonies in Maine. Pond and Metinic islands supported record numbers of nesting terns this year! We also experienced some conservation challenges this season. The Ship Island common tern colony contin- ues to struggle with predation. The birds have abandoned their nests in early June for the past three years, but then return in mid to late June to relay eggs. We believe that predation by great horned owls and peregrine falcons are contributing to the abandonment issue, and both species have been documented at Ship Island in recent years. Hardhead Island Acquired by MCINWR For more than 30 years, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Maine Coastal Islands NWR has been working to identify and protect Nationally Significant Seabird Nesting Islands along the coast of Maine. During this process, we consider the size and diversity of the seabird population, the presence of endangered or threat- ened species, and the percentage of the state-wide seabird population supported on an island. With the assistance of our conservation partner, Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT), we were able to acquire the 5.25 acre Hardhead Island in Deer Isle, Maine. MCINWR now owns or manages 72 islands along the coast of Maine! Hardhead Island supports a diverse seabird colony includ- ing: common terns, black guillemots, common eiders, great black-backed and herring gulls, and double crested cormorants. MCINWR used funding from grants, an oil spill settlement, and a donation from MCHT to acquire the island. We hope to continue working with willing sellers and our conservation partners to provide permanent protection for valuable nesting islands. Page 2 Maine Coastal Islands NWR Current Estimate of Seabirds Breeding in Maine Species # Breeding Pairs # Colonies Roseate Tern 217 4 Arctic Tern 2,342 7 Common Tern 10,735 12-14 Atlantic Puffin 1,230-1,330 5 Laughing Gull 1,842 3 Great Cormorant 30 2 Common Murre 12 1 Manx Shearwater 6 1 Leach’s Storm-Petrel 31,248 33 Razorbill 750+ 6 Double Crested Cormorant 9,200 69 Herring Gull 23,000 160 Great Black-Backed Gull 5,000 165 Common Eider 21,000 320 Black Guillemot 12,000 adults 166 Several tern, puffin, and razorbill colonies were not surveyed in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions on the number of technicians working on the islands. Values for those islands represent data from 2019. Table on page 4 shows island specific data. Species listed in shaded rows are not surveyed annually, and the data represents the most recent survey information. Values for double crested cormorants, herring, and great blacked-backed gulls are still being finalized and these numbers should be considered draft. Pairs of Roseate Terns Nesting in Maine: 1987-2020 350 300 250 200 Pairs 150 100 50 0 '87 '89 '91 '93 '95 '97 '99 '01 '03 '05 '07 '09 '11 '13 '15 '17 '19 Roseate Tern Year The entire northeast population of roseate terns experienced a significant declined between 2000 and 2009. Managers do not know the cause of that decline. Conditions seem to have improved and the population has increased by 44% since 2011. Researchers are trying to learn about where the terns spend the winter (Brazil and Argentina) and any potential threats they may face during migration. Page 3 Maine Coastal Islands NWR Common and Arctic Tern Recovery in Maine: 1987-2020 12000 10000 8000 6000 Pairs 4000 2000 0 '87 '89 '91 '93 '95 '97 '99 '01 '03 '05 '07 '09 '11 '13 '15 '17 '19 Year Common Arctic In Maine, the common tern population has increased by 35% since 2011, while the Arctic tern population has decreased by 19% during that same time period. The cause of the Arctic tern decline is unknown, but it appears that colonies across the globe are declining. This suggests that issues outside the breeding range may be influencing the species. Arctic terns winter along the icepack of the Antarctic, and complete annual migrations that exceed 42,000 miles! Pairs of Laughing Gulls Nesting on Petit Manan, Matinicus Rock, and Eastern Egg Rock: 1984-2020 Control Efforts Implemented 5000 4500 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 Egg Rock 500 Pairs of Laughing Gulls Laughing Pairsof 0 Matinicus Rk Petit Manan 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 2014 2017 2020 Year In Maine, laughing gulls nest on 3-4 islands where seabird managers prohibit the larger great black-backed and herring gulls from nesting. Laughing gulls prey on tern eggs and chicks, and compete with the terns for nesting habitat. Laughing gulls will also steal food from the terns, particularly in years when preferred food (herring and hake) appear to be scarce. To enhance tern productivity and decrease competition for nesting habitat, USFWS and NAS began a Laughing Gull control effort in 2008. In 2018 the Eastern Egg Rock gull population abandoned the island and 800 pairs nested on the nearby Western Egg Rock. Page 4 Maine Coastal Islands NWR Location of Managed Seabird Colonies in Maine Results of 2020* Seabird Surveys in Maine Island Common Arctic Tern Roseate Atlantic Razorbill Laughing Tern Tern Puffin Gull Petit Manan 949 352 0 70 3 589 Ship Island 355+ 0 0 0 0 0 Seal 1,324 725 0 573 60 0 Matinicus Rock 327 790 0 400-500 400+ 79 Metinic 630 389 0 0 0 0 Eastern Egg Rock 1,156 77 80 188 0 1,174 Pond 1,453 3 2 0 0 0 Jenny 1,433 1 21 0 0 0 Outer Green 1,775 0 0 0 0 0 Stratton 1,159 5 114 0 0 0 All other islands 174 0 2-4 No census 0 2020 Estimates 10,735 2,342 217 1,230-1,330 750+ 1,842 2019 TOTAL 10,050 2,345 219 1,230 -1,330 750+ 1,414 * Due to Covid-19, some colonies were not surveyed this year. Results in red represent data from 2019 Page 5 Maine Coastal Islands NWR Research Needs at MCINWR: Foraging ecology and diet information for terns, puffins, and razorbills Strategy: Continue tern GPS tracking project implemented in 2019 Influence of climate change and commercial harvest on forage fish availability Strategy: Expand efforts to document seabird diet using fecal DNA and direct observations of chick feedings. Continue discussions with fishery management agencies. Reason for recent decline in Arctic terns and great cormorants How other species of concern such as shorebirds, songbirds, raptors, and bats are utilizing the Maine coast during migration Migration and wintering distribution of puffins and razorbills Foraging ecology of Leach’s storm-petrels, and better methods for monitoring petrel populations Develop management strategies to limit garter snake predation on terns and storm-petrels nesting on Metinic Island Potential wildlife conflicts with offshore wind development. MCINWR will continue working with other federal agencies and applicants to make sure seabird survey and tracking data are considered during the permitting process. We will also continue efforts to document seabird foraging habitat and migration corridors in the Gulf of Maine. 2019 Coast-wide Gull and Cormorant Census Seabirds currently nest on 300+ islands spanning the entire 250 mile coastline of Maine. This makes it challeng- ing for resource managers to obtain accurate estimates of the gull and cormorant populations. Although we com- plete ground surveys on several islands each summer, we simply can’t survey several hundred islands during the 3 week survey window. To collect the information we need, the USFWS partnered with Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the University of Maine (UM), and the US Geological Survey to complete an aerial survey of over 200 seabird nesting islands in 2019. A USFWS plane flew the entire coast and took high-resolution aerial pho- tos of the islands. Graduate students at UM counted the seabird nests in the photos, and are working to develop automated technologies to assist with future surveys. Similar surveys were completed in 2008 and 2013, allowing us to examine trends over the past 12 years. Based on preliminary results, the herring gull population has increased by 10% to approx. 23,000 pairs and great black-backed gulls continue to decline (est.