Seabirds breed come heavy rains or strong winds

White tern aka fairy tern breed year round and are usually seen in pairs, they lay a single egg on a branch crevice

The Seabird survey on Cousin Island Special Reserve was typically carried out during the South East monsoon season – a period of low rainfall and heavy winds – but since 2013 this is now done in both the North West (NW) and the South East (SE) monsoon seasons to compare trends between these different times of the year. The NW season, running from November to March, is time for heavy rains but calmer winds and sea.

2017 seabird updates from Cousine Island

Lesser Noddy breeding success
Breeding success of Lesser Noddy on Cousine are investigated annually during the seabird nesting season, from June to October. A total of 150 nests (divided into 15 different ‘plots’ of ten nests) were selected around the island. The nests were visited weekly to determine the status of each nest, and the contents (adults present, egg, stage of chick) recorded using binoculars and a mirror attached to a long pole.

Up close with seabirds

Out of all the incredible wildlife on Cousin Island Special Reserve, I was most excited to see the huge diversity of birds that live here. Only two weeks into my stay as a Nature Seychelles volunteer, I have had so many amazing experiences studying these animals close up.

Seabird experts meets

The Seychelles Seabird Group (SSG) has just met for the group’s annual meeting to discuss the status of seabirds on Cousin, Cousine, Aride, Fregate and Denis islands. With funding from the Norwegian Embassy and Airtel Seychelles, Nature Seychelles launched SSG for a better understanding of Seychelles’ 18 species of seabirds, numbering millions of individuals.

Do you know this birdie?

“I found a greater crested tern on our beach – it is ringed with a metal ring on the left leg and yellow plastic ring on the right leg.

Sixth annual frigatebird survey completed on Aldabra

February saw the completion of the sixth annual frigatebird survey at Aldabra Atoll in the SW Indian Ocean.

350 pairs of Brown noddies are estimated to breed on Denis Island

In February 2016 a Brown noddy (Anous stolidus) census was conducted on Denis Island by Green Islands Foundation (GIF) staff and volunteers to estimate the size of the breeding population. Brown noddies are commonly ground nesting but are seen far more frequently nesting in the crowns of coconut trees on Denis Island, possibly due to the presence of mammal predators in the recent past before the eradications of rats and cats.

Denis Island’s breeding population of Fairy terns counts nearly 2000 breeding pairs

Denis Island’s breeding population of Fairy terns counts nearly 2000 breeding pairs
Between the 17th and 24th of January 2016 a census of breeding Fairy terns (Gygis alba) was conducted by Green Islands Foundation (GIF) staff and volunteers on Denis Island.

Deciding when to lend a helping hand: a decision-making framework for seabird island restoration

(Rachel T. Buxton, Christopher J. Jones, Philip O’Brien Lyver, David R. Towns and Stephanie B. Borrelle)

Following the removal of an introduced species, island restoration can follow two general approaches: passive, where no further intervention occurs and the island is assumed to recover naturally, and; active, where recovery of key taxa (e.g. seabirds) is enhanced by manipulating movement and demography.

Seabird Census Complete

On Cousin Island Special Reserve, Nature Seychelles staff and volunteers complete two main seabird censuses annually, coinciding with the two different monsoon seasons. At these times censuses are conducted for the year-round nesting birds, such as White-Tailed Tropicbirds (Phaethon lepturus), Tropical Shearwaters (Puffinus lherminieri), and White Terns (Gygis alba).