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- Title
AUTUMN MARINE BIRD POPULATIONS IN QUEEN CHARLOTTE STRAIT AND ADJACENT WATERS: A CANDIDATE FOR IBA/KBA STATUS.
- Authors
GASTON, ANTHONY J.; MAFTEI, MARK; PASTRAN, SONYA A.
- Abstract
Systematic transect surveys of marine birds in eastern Queen Charlotte Strait and the western part of Johnstone Strait, British Columbia, Canada, were made between mid-August and mid-October 2020-2022. All birds within 100-m transect strips were counted and numbers corrected for detectability. Extrapolating within five regions of differing ecological characteristics and seabird densities, our results indicate that the study area supported 1% or more of the North American populations of Pigeon Guillemot Cepphus columba, Marbled Murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus, California Gull Larus californicus, Glaucous-winged Gull L. glaucescens, Iceland Gull L. glaucoides, and Short-billed Gull L. brachyrhynchos. Our estimation of gull species in our study area would have been even higher if gulls in flight had been included in our survey. Furthermore, maximum estimates of Common Murre Uria aalge exceed the total population breeding in British Columbia. Only Pigeon Guillemot, Marbled Murrelet, and Glaucous-winged Gull breed in Queen Charlotte Strait, and only Marbled Murrelet is considered to be "at risk." However, based on current criteria, it seems that the area would be a prime candidate for nomination as an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Key Biodiversity Area.
- Subjects
BRITISH Columbia; QUEENS; INTERNATIONAL Union for Conservation of Nature &; Natural Resources; SEA birds; BIRD populations; AUTUMN; STRAITS; GULLS; BIRD surveys
- Publication
Marine Ornithology, 2024, Vol 52, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
1018-3337
- Publication type
Article