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Threatened Bird Species Boosted By Hatching Chicks. Local community group, the Little Tern Taskforce, together with the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) are excited by the hatching of at least 35 Little Tern chicks at Lake Tyers in early December 2003. By Department of Sustainability and Environment - 12th January 2004 - Back to News Deakin University Student, Faye Bedford said that this is very positive for the overall Little Tern population in South-eastern Victoria.
"In recent years the breeding success of the threatened Little Tern has been extremely low," Ms Bedford said.
The hail storms that ripped through the East Gippsland region on Christmas Eve 2002 had a devastating effect on Little Tern breeding numbers, with a number of adult Little Tern being killed and the destruction of chicks and eggs.
"What made it more disturbing was that 95 per cent of the adult birds found dead were female which has had a devastating impact on the breeding population" Ms Bedford said.
In addition to the adverse weather conditions, there are many other pressures placed upon nesting colonies, including predation and disturbance by foxes, ravens and Silver Gulls as well as from dogs and people entering the colonies.
Ms. Bedford said that while the majority of people abide by the signage and steer clear of the nests, there are still those that walk through the colonies or allow their dogs to run through.
"Little Tern lay their eggs in a small depression in the sand and are often very difficult to detect. By walking through the colonies or allowing dogs to run through people have inadvertently crushed both eggs and chicks," Ms Bedford said.
"The lack of supervision of dogs can be extremely disturbing and heartbreaking to witness. To come to a site that was thriving the day before to find all that is left is a procession of dog and human foot prints over the nesting mounds is really heartbreaking."
Ms Bedford's message is clear: "Dogs can’t read signs … but people can and I urge everyone to help protect these threatened birds by keeping clear of signposted areas."
To enhance our knowledge of coastal birds, each year many coastal birds are banded by the Victorian Wader Study Group with assistance of the Little Tern Taskforce Inc..
Banding involves placing small plastic and metal bands on the birds' legs so that they can be distinguished when seen in the field. These bands do not hinder the bird's ability to fly or forage.
Records from banded Little Terns have shown movement between East Gippsland and Japan and life spans that exceed 16 years, which is quite amazing for a bird no bigger than a budgie. To further the knowledge on Little Terns, some of the chicks that recently hatched have already been banded.
"We managed to band 31 of the 35 chicks from the Lake Tyers colony," Richard Owen, President of the Little Tern Taskforce and qualified bird bander said.
The team plans to revisit the site in the next few days to band chicks that were missed on the first session and those that have recently hatched.
The Little Tern Taskforce Inc. is a community group that works in conjunction with DSE and Parks Victoria in protecting the breeding colonies of threatened coastal birds. This season the group was able to fund two summer scholarship for students studying environmental sciences at Deakin and Charles Sturt University. This has been extremely successful in protecting the threatened birds and also in providing invaluable experience to students studying environmental science. However, funds are hard to come by and every little bit helps. You can help by supporting the Little Tern Taskforce Inc. by becoming a member or making a donation.
If you would like to know more about the Little Tern Taskforce Inc. or to report a disturbance to a colony please phone the Department of Sustainabilty and Environment 51520400.
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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