A Good Turn for the Roseate Tern A Good Turn for the Roseate Tern

A Good Turn
for the Roseate Tern
Special Report by Paddy Muir
Photo: Becky Whitttam
I
f you're a Roseate Tern that chooses
Canada for a breeding season visit,
there's bad news and good news. The
bad news is that you are among fewer than
150 nesting pairs. In 1999, the Committee
on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in
Canada (COSEWIC) designated you as
Endangered. (Roseate Terns had
previously been listed as Threatened, but
new information resulted in a
reclassification for the Canadian
population.) The good news is that you
have some dedicated friends working hard
to improve your chances of survival.
Like many attractive creatures over the
years, this elegant seabird fell victim to
passing fashion during the Victorian era. Its
distinctive long, forked tail feathers were in
great demand for decorating ladies' hats.
No one knows how heavily Roseate
Terns were impacted by this fashion trend,
or how many nested in North America prior
to the end of the 19th century. Early reports
talk about "thousands." By the 1890s, when
commercial hunting was no longer viable,
only 2000 pairs remained.
Protective legislation allowed the
North American population of Roseate
Terns to increase to 8500 pairs by the
1930s. They nested in scattered colonies
along the eastern seaboard as far south as
South Carolina.
Since the 1950s, due to loss of nesting
habitat, predation, and trapping during the
non-breeding season, the total has fallen to
about 4000 pairs. The colonies now extend
only as far south as Long Island in New
York. Atlantic Canada is considered to be
the northernmost edge of the Roseate Tern's
range.
4
BIRDWATCH CANADA
Nest shelters are maintained and monitored by Ted D'Eon on The Brothers islands. Des abris pour la nidification sont entretenus et surveillés
par Ted D'Eon dans les îles The Brothers. Photo: Ted D’Eon
The Canadian
Recovery Strategy
is Launched
In May 2005, the Canadian Wildlife
Service (CWS) drafted a formal recovery
strategy for Roseate Terns in Canada. Coauthored by Professor Andrew Horn of
Dalhousie University and CWS Wildlife
Biologist Andrew Boyne, it will be the first
recovery strategy posted on the Species at
Risk Registry since the federal legislation
was passed in 2002.
“Since it was Canada's first recovery
strategy to be developed, we also had to
create a road map for the process,” says
Andrew Boyne. Early drafts were
circulated for comment to all provinces
with jurisdiction and any stakeholders the
recovery team felt might be affected,
including offshore gas and aquaculture
industries and the bird conservation
community.
“Our overall goal is to maintain what
we have,” he explains. “We're not really sure
how much further forward we can go
because for the last 15-20 years the
country's tern population has been stable at
100-150 pairs. It's hard to know, regardless
of how hard we work, whether we can
achieve an increase, because the bulk of the
population is on the other side of the
border.” Despite intensive preservation
initiatives, the U.S. population has declined
over the past five years, from a high of 4300
pairs in 2000 to only 3100 pairs in 2005.
One concern being addressed is that,
increasingly, the Canadian Roseate Tern
The Roseate Tern is Endangered in Canada, with fewer than 150 nesting pairs. La Sterne de Dougall est en voie de disparition au Canada, où il
reste moins de 150 couples nicheurs Photo: Ted D’Eon
.
population has its eggs largely in one
geographical basket. Nesting activity on
the traditional Canadian breeding grounds
of Sable Island and the Magdalen Islands is
in decline. For example, only one Roseate
Tern was observed on the Magdalens
during the 2005 breeding season.
In collaboration with the U.S.
Recovery Plan, the Canadian strategy aims
not only to maintain and enhance breeding
productivity, but also to restore the
population's range across broadly
distributed colonies.
The most encouraging factor is that, as
the following accounts relate, most of the
proposed recovery strategies are already
proving their worth – thanks to the work of
committed and resourceful supporters.
Ted's Terns
Ted D’Eon saw his first resident
Roseate Terns in 1983. The pharmacist was
one of a group of Nova Scotian birders
undertaking a regular census on two tiny
islands, known as The Brothers, in the Gulf
of Maine, just off Lower West Pubnico.
They spotted 40 Roseates on the rocks
among a colony of approximately 1000
Common and Arctic terns that regularly
nested on The Brothers.
From this sighting quickly emerged a
passion for Ted. Nova Scotia's “Mr. Tern”
has truly taken the Roseates of The Brothers
under his wing. He started visiting the
islands at least once a week during the
breeding season. Unlike other terns,
Roseates typically seek sheltered nest sites.
Ted started placing old lobster boxes in
suitable locations to act as breeding
shelters.
With the permission of Environment
Canada, he also started destroying any gull
nests being built. Gulls nest earlier than the
terns, are typically a major predator of both
eggs and chicks, and their populations have
been expanding. “I find it very exciting to
work with the terns. The islands are only
about five minutes by boat from my home –
and I love to be there,” he says.
Ted's enthusiasm is infectious. He
maintains a detailed and fascinating tern log
on his personal website (www.ted.ca). He
also has a list of eager volunteers from the
small fishing community to call upon, from
retired carpenters and school teachers to his
son, a lab technician. “'Call me, call me,'
they say. So, unless I'm planning something
FEATURE
SPECIAL REPORT
like making observations from a
blind, I always take one or two with me.”
He adds that people feel good when they
can do something useful, such as
removing beach debris or cutting
potentially hazardous netting from a
washed-up lobster pot.
With gull predation under control
and the Roseates returning regularly each
year, Ted was feeling very optimistic
about the health of The Brothers' colony.
Then came a major setback in 2003. The
week before the annual CWS banding
visit, he stepped ashore to an appalling
sight: birds dead all over the island.
He suspected a disease such as avian
cholera but the culprit proved to be a
mink. Sadly, the shelters that had
protected the Roseates against weather
and other predators had worked in the
mink's favour. An expert trapped the
mink within a couple of days, but by then
many birds had been killed, including a
dozen Roseates. Very few tern chicks
fledged that year.
The following year, despite
vigilance and good preparation, there was
another mink and considerable
devastation was done before it was
caught. Everyone wondered what backto-back disaster years would mean for the
viability of the colony.
Throughout spring 2005, Ted kept
his fingers crossed and doubled his
number of visits. The Roseates returned
and no mink appeared. “All things
considered, we had a good year,” he says.
“From around 900 nests (total terns) four
years ago, this year we had about 450 –
but it was a good 450 in terms of yield.
The highest number of young Roseates
we ever have fledged was 90, and this
year we had around 68. They did well, so
we hope good numbers will come again
next year.”
No Place for a Lady,
Locals Insist!
During a survey of the province in
the mid-1990s, Sherman Boates, a senior
biologist with the Nova Scotia
Department of Natural Resources,
discovered about 45 pairs of Roseates
nesting among the Common and Arctic
terns about 500 kilometres farther up the
coast, on Country Island.
Fortuitously, Dr. Marty Leonard, a
professor in the Biology Department at
Dalhousie University, heard about his
discovery. The following year when
Becky Whittam, one of her graduate
students (and now Bird Studies Canada's
Atlantic Program Manager), was looking
for a master's thesis research project,
WINTER 2006, NUMBER 34
5
Marty suggested investigating the factors
affecting the success of these Roseates.
The first year, Becky arrived to what
Marty describes as essentially a bloodbath.
“Large gulls were taking the chicks; crows
and ravens were taking the eggs,” she says.
“I believe in 1998 they had only one or two
Roseate chicks fledge and none for the other
tern species.”
The following year, when Becky
returned to Country Island, she found that
the Roseates had virtually abandoned the
colony and the Common and Arctic tern
populations were also greatly reduced. She
changed the focus of her project to
predation in general and concluded that
there was clearly a problem.
Tern workers in the U.S., who had been
monitoring the colonies for several years,
advised that if the predation issue could be
tackled quickly, the colony might yet be
saved. CWS responded with a plan for nonlethal gull control. The next year, all the
gulls returned but were discouraged from
settling. Each successive year brought
fewer gulls, but more terns.
“Country Island is pretty much a
success story,” says Marty. “We're now
back to about 40 breeding pairs of Roseates
and the other two tern species have
rebounded as well.”
There may be fewer gulls and crows to
discourage these days but predator control
remains essential for long-term colony
survival. Fortunately, Becky launched
something of a tradition. For eight years,
two or three of Marty Leonard's students –
all female but one – have made Country
Island their summer home.
But Country Island is a true test for a
novice field biologist. Flat, exposed, 45minutes by boat from the mainland and less
than 20 hectares, it has no running water.
Two pockets of stunted spruce provide the
only scenic relief until July, when tall
grasses and abundant wildflowers relieve
some of the bleakness.
The first year, the students lived in
buildings formerly occupied by generations
of lighthouse keepers but these have since
been dismantled. The field camp
accommodations are fairly basic. A bucket
shower in May in Nova Scotia takes a stout
heart and gritted teeth.
Jennifer Rock spent summer 2003 and
2004 on the island, coordinating the daily
bird and predator monitoring and
conducting research on productivity and
tern diets for her master's thesis.
Experienced with remote island fieldwork
on the west coast, she admits to being
surprised by the weather. “At one point we
had 21 days straight of thick fog. It gets a bit
weird when you're on a small island but
haven't seen the ocean in ages and things
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BIRDWATCH CANADA
The Bluenose Coastal Action Foundation maintains a camp on Quaker Island as part of their efforts to re-establish Roseate Terns. La Bluenose
Coastal Action Foundation maintient un camp dans l'île Quaker dans le cadre de ses efforts de rétablissement de la Sterne de Dougall. Photo:
BCAF files
around you start to rot!”
But despite the fog, Jennifer managed
to radio tag and track many terns over two
seasons. She discovered that the Roseates
forage over shallow water, very close to
shore – along the shorelines of
neighbouring islands as well as the
mainland. Arctic Terns, for the most part,
forage away from the colony, over much
deeper water. Meanwhile, the Common
Terns occupy the area between,
overlapping in places with the Roseates.
This information may be vital for
conservation. For instance, in the event of a
local oil spill, measures can be taken to
protect specific areas where Roseate Terns
are likely to be foraging.
Despite the hardships, everyone
involved in the Country Island project says
that the support they receive from the local
community makes all the difference.
“They're fabulous,” says Jennifer. “The
Manthorne family in particular – they've
been ferrying us to and from the island,
bringing our water, and looking out for us
since the beginning.” Rodney Manthorne's
boat usually contains candy and other treats
alongside the water bottles. And the students
often receive invitations to come in for
lunch when they go ashore. “But they do
think we're all nuts to be out there,” Jennifer
laughs.
She stresses, however, that the terns are
worth it. “They're very charismatic. The
adults are beautiful to watch and the chicks
are hilarious when they're interacting at
feeding time. We were attacked, divebombed, and pooped on but we didn't mind.
For a relatively small bird, it's got a lot of
attitude!”
Roseate chicks are banded as part of long-term monitoring. Des poussins de Sterne de Dougall sont bagués dans le cadre du programme de
surveillance à long terme. Photo: Ted D’Eon
have to expand the ways we get the word
out to them,” Cheyenne explained.
Wintering Grounds – the
Great Question Mark
Gull predation is a serious threat to tern eggs and chicks. La prédation par les goélands représente une grave menace pour les œufs et les
poussins de la sterne. Photo: Jim Flynn
If You Build It,
Will They Come?
Halfway between Country Island and
The Brothers, the Bluenose Coastal Action
Foundation (BCAF) is working hard to
attract Roseate Terns back to Mahone Bay,
once home to one of Canada's three largest
Roseate colonies.
The project, launched by this
community-based, not-for-profit
organization in 2003, addresses the third
objective of the Canadian Recovery
Strategy for the Roseate Tern – restoring a
broader distribution by establishing at least
one more managed colony.
In the first year, an extensive feasibility
study examined all the issues. A 35-hectare
island about two kilometres offshore was
identified as an excellent potential site.
With the enthusiastic support of owner Sir
Christopher Ondaatje and funding from
various government and private sources, a
field camp with two staff was established on
Quaker Island in April 2004.
By using pyrotechnics and destroying
nests and eggs, the field team first
discouraged potential predator gulls. In
early May, they deployed tern nesting
shelters and tern decoys, and activated a
sound system that played tern colony
sounds around the clock to help lure
Roseates to the island. By early July, there
were approximately 25 active Common
Tern nests on the island. Although they did
not nest, two pairs of Roseates were seen
circling and landing during the summer.
Sadly, a severe thunderstorm flooded
the Common Tern nests and all the chicks
perished. But the BCAF team and CWS still
considered the project a success. Similar
restoration projects elsewhere in the Gulf of
Maine had far fewer active nests the first
year.
This past summer, a field team
followed the same routine and the terns
again responded. Twenty-three Common
Tern nests resulted, but the Roseates, while
showing interest, still did not join the
colony. Again, disaster struck. This time a
mink from the mainland destroyed all the
eggs in a single night and the adults
abandoned the nests.
Cheyenne Laurie, Coordinator of the
BCAF Roseate Tern Recovery Project, says
they are still hopeful and have an action
plan ready for the 2006 breeding season.
“We're going to increase predator research
to see how the risk can be reduced,” she
says.
BCAF is also planning to increase its
community outreach and education
activities. Unlike the other two Nova Scotia
nesting sites, Mahone Bay is prime
residential and tourist territory. “The yearround community has been very
understanding about signs asking people to
stay clear of the colonies, but there is a large
seasonal tourist population and many
recreational boaters to contend with. We
Are the Recovery Strategy's goals
achievable? Andrew Boyne is both hopeful
and realistic. He admits that the greatest
limitation to the project is lack of research
on the wintering grounds. Where the North
American Roseate Tern population goes is
still largely unknown. Some birds have
been spotted on offshore sandbars in Brazil.
There is a suspicion that some may become
pelagic, spending their winters in the open
sea.
Helen Hayes from the American
Museum of Natural History has spent the
last nine or so years banding and radio
tagging the birds in Brazil – but the size of
the Brazilian coastline poses a huge
challenge. At a recent meeting, the joint
national U.S.-Canadian Roseate Tern
Recovery Team established a plan to try to
assist her work.
But back in Nova Scotia, every
returning Roseate will be noted and warmly
welcomed: by Ted D’Eon and his
neighbours on their weekly visits to The
Brothers; by Marty Leonard's graduate
students, observing and working on
collaborative projects with CWS on
isolated Country Island; and in Mahone
Bay, by the BCAF volunteers as they keep
their fingers crossed in the hopes of finding
nests on Quaker Island. Three groups and
three communities, all different but all
committed to the future of a beautiful
Endangered bird that inspires great
affection.
Paddy Muir is a Halifax-based writer, who
is also an avid outdoor enthusiast and
nature-watcher. She always enjoys
exploring a new story from the natural
world.
North Brother Island. Photo: Ted D’Eon
WINTER 2006, NUMBER 34
7
Efforts en vue du rétablissement de la Sterne de Dougall
Sterne de Dougall/Roseate Tern Photo: Ted D’Eon
S
upposons que vous êtes une Sterne
de Dougall et que vous décidez de
faire une halte au Canada durant la
saison de reproduction. De bonnes et de
mauvaises nouvelles vous attendent. Au
chapitre des mauvaises nouvelles, vous
faites partie des quelque 150 couples à
peine qui nichent au Canada et, en 1999,
le Comité sur la situation des espèces en
péril au Canada (COSEPAC) vous a
inscrite sur la liste des espèces en voie de
disparition. (La Sterne de Dougall avait
d'abord été déclarée espèce menacée,
mais de nouvelles lignes directrices plus
rigoureuses ont entraîné le reclassement
de l'espèce). La bonne nouvelle, c'est que
vous avez des amis dévoués qui
travaillent sans relâche pour améliorer
vos chances de survie.
Comme ce fut le cas à diverses
époques pour de nombreuses créatures
attrayantes, cet élégant oiseau de mer est
devenu une victime de la mode à l'époque
victorienne. Les longues plumes
caractéristiques de sa queue fourchue
étaient très recherchées pour la
décoration des chapeaux des dames.
Personne ne sait combien de Sternes de
Dougall nichaient en Amérique du Nord
avant la fin du XIXe siècle. Les premiers
rapports font état de « milliers ». Mais
après une période de chasse active dans
les années 1890, on ne comptait plus que
2 000 couples.
Des lois adoptées par la suite pour
assurer la protection de l'espèce ont
8
BIRDWATCH CANADA
permis à la population de Sternes de
Dougall d'Amérique du Nord d'augmenter.
Ainsi, on comptait 8 500 couples dans les
années 1930. Ces couples nichaient en
colonies dispersées tout le long de la côte
est, jusqu'en Caroline du Sud.
Depuis les années 1950, la perte des
habitats de reproduction, la prédation et le
piégeage en dehors de la saison de
reproduction ont fait baisser la population
de sternes de Dougall aux alentours de 3
000 à 4 000 couples. Actuellement, l'aire de
répartition de l'espèce ne s'étend plus vers le
sud que jusqu'à Long Island, dans l'État de
N e w - Yo r k e t o n s i t u e s a l i m i t e
septentrionale au Canada atlantique.
En mai 2005, le Service canadien de la
faune (SCF) a ébauché une stratégie de
rétablissement de la Sterne de Dougall au
Canada. Cette stratégie sera la première à
figurer au Registre des espèces en péril
depuis l'adoption, en 2002, de la Loi sur les
espèces en péril. On a présenté les
premières ébauches à toutes les provinces et
à toutes les parties jugées concernées afin
de recueillir leurs commentaires.
L'objectif global de la stratégie est le
maintien du nombre actuel d'individus.
Pendant 15 à 20 ans, la population est
demeurée stable avec environ 100 à 150
couples. Il sera difficile de faire augmenter
la population au Canada puisque la majeure
partie des individus se trouve de l'autre côté
de la frontière. Malgré des efforts de
préservation très intenses, la population de
Sternes de Dougall aux États-Unis a
diminué au cours des cinq dernières
années, passant de 4 300 couples en 2
000 à 3 100 couples seulement en 2005.
Un sujet de préoccupation qui
retient actuellement l'attention, c'est que,
de plus en plus, la population de Sternes
de Dougall du Canada dépose,
géographiquement, presque « tous ses
oeufs dans le même panier ». La
nidification dans les aires traditionnelles
de reproduction que constituaient
autrefois l'île de Sable et les îles de la
Madeleine semble être en déclin. Par
exemple, on n'a observé qu'une seule
Sterne de Dougall aux îles de la
Madeleine durant la saison de
reproduction de 2005. En collaboration
avec le plan de rétablissement adopté aux
États-Unis, la stratégie canadienne vise
non seulement le maintien et
l'amélioration de la productivité de
l'espèce, mais également le
rétablissement de son aire de répartition
sur un territoire beaucoup plus étendu.
Pour étendre l'aire de répartition,
trois groupes et trois collectivités, tous
déterminés à assurer l'avenir de la Sterne
de Dougall, travaillent à l'établissement
de sites de nidification le long de la côte
atlantique du Canada. Sur deux îles
minuscules situées dans le golfe du
Maine, connues sous le nom de « The
Brothers », des bénévoles étudient la
nidification des Sternes de Dougall,
améliorent l'habitat et luttent contre la
prédation par les visons. Environ 500
kilomètres plus au nord, dans l'île
Country, des étudiants du département
de biologie de l'Université Dalhousie
étudient la Sterne de Dougall depuis huit
ans tout en surveillant et en dissuadant
ses prédateurs, notamment les goélands.
Enfin, à mi-chemin entre l'île Country et
The Brothers, la Bluenose Coastal
Action Foundation travaille d'arrachepied pour réintroduire la Sterne de
Dougall dans la baie Mahone, qui abritait
autrefois l'une des trois plus importantes
colonies de Sternes de Dougall du
Canada.
Ces initiatives de rétablissement
portent déjà leurs fruits, grâce au travail
de personnes ingénieuses qui les
appuient. Des chercheurs et des
bénévoles recueillent de précieux
renseignements sur l'utilisation de
l'habitat par la Sterne de Dougall et sur
les menaces à la survie de l'espèce. Ces
renseignements servent ensuite à mieux
protéger les oiseaux encore présents
dans les aires de nidification.