Bermuda’s population of White-tailed tropicbirds soars

Happy New Year from Green Antilles! I’m going to start the new year off with some encouraging news updates. First, from Bermuda, a story about the recovery of the island’s population of White-tailed Tropicbirds, also known as Bermuda longtails:

Conservation officer Jeremy Madeiros says with continued protection and management, the future now looks bright for the Bermuda Longtail — the island’s traditional herald of spring.

Writing in the Bermuda Audubon Society’s winter newsletter, he says a longterm artificial nest programme has helped to boost numbers of the Bermuda Longtail — or White-tailed Tropicbird as it is correctly known — to between 2,500 and 3,000 breeding pairs.

“The Longtail is one of Bermuda’s best-known and most-loved bird species,” he said. “Long considered to be the first harbinger of spring and foretelling of warmer weather to come, the first sighting of a Longtail is an event that is always recorded in the local newspapers.

“It was also long considered to be Bermuda‟s unofficial National Bird, although that honour was officially given to the endemic and critically endangered Cahow, or Bermuda Petrel Pterodroma cahow in 2003.”

The Tropicbird is a beautiful, black and white seabird with a wingspan of just over three feet which can be found in subtropical seas in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

…

“The North Atlantic contains a distinct sub-species, Phaethon lepturus catsbyi, which only nests in Bermuda, the Caribbean and islands off the northern coast of South America,” he said. “The Bermuda population of about 2500-3000 nesting pairs is very important as it represents about half of the entire population of this subspecies.

“This means that Bermuda’s tropicbirds are not only important to the local environment, but are of international significance.”

…

As of 2011, a total of 96 artificial nests have been installed at seven of survey locations — Long Rock, Inner Pear Rock, Green Island, Nonsuch Island, Horn Rock, Southampton Island, and Shelly Bay.

Out of these 96 nests, a total of 69 had nesting activity recorded during the 2011 nesting season, of which 55 produced successfully fledging chicks.

“This represents 79.7 percent breeding success with the artificial nests,” he said. “In comparison, in 2011 there were a total of 143 natural nests with nesting activity, of which 99 produced successfully fledged chicks, representing 69.2 percent breeding success.

“The artificial nest sites therefore experienced 10.5 percent higher breeding success than the natural sites, a significant figure that confirms previous results from 2006 – 2008.

Mr. Madeiros said these results illustrate that the programme of artificial nest installation has already been a success in maintaining and increasing the numbers of breeding pairs and fledged chicks and that it should be continued and, where appropriate, expanded.

“This technique also has potential application in other locations where White-tailed Tropicbirds nest, especially in the Caribbean where this species has been confirmed as declining in numbers at many known nesting locations,” he said.

Based on these results, Mr. Madeiros said the Longtail is enjoying a high breeding success on Bermuda, both at managed and unmanaged locations.

Read more in the full article from BerNews.

Previously on Green Antilles: A bright future for Bermuda’s cahow, a bird once believed to be extinct and Bermuda strengthens protection for endangered species.

[Photo: kansasphoto]

Tags: bermuda