The status of ledge-nesting seabirds at monitoring sites in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska in summer 1989
Published By US Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior
Issued over 9 years ago
Summary
Description
Seabird monitoring in the Aleutian Islands durin9 summer 1989 focused on a guild of ledgenesting species including northern fulmar Fulmarus glacialis, cormorants Phalacrocorax spp., kittiwakes Rissa spp., and murres Uria spp.. The main study sites were Agattu and Buldir islands in the western Aleutians, but additional data were obtained in the central Amata I. and eastern Aiktak I. Aleutians. Results of Monitoring in 1989 suggest that fulmars continue to expand their nesting area at Buldir. In contrast redfaced cormorants Phalacrocorax urile may have declined at Buldir since the mid1970s. Redfaced cormorants apparently had relatively poor reproductive legged Rissa tridactyla success and at Agattu in 1989. Blackredlegged kittiwakes brevirostris have increased at Buldir since the mid1970s, but both species had poor reproductive success there in 1989. Interestingly, blacklegged kittiwakes had better success at Agattu than at Buldir. Counts of blacklegged kittiwakes at Agattu and Amata in 1989 were similar to earlier years. Common murres Uria aalge appear to be increasing slightly at Agattu since the late 1970s, and thickbilled murres Uria lomvia have increased during the same period at Buldir. Murre counts at Amata were slightly higher in 1989 than in 1982, but at Aiktak less than 200 murres were present on cliffs in 1989 that had contained 13,000 in 1980! Presumably this represents a seasonal absence not a population crash.