Application of a novel banding technique and photographic recapture to describe plumage development and behaviour of juvenile Fairy Terns

The Australian Fairy Tern Sternula nereis nereis is a seabird that breeds along the coast and whose small populations are dispersed over vast stretches of the Australian seaboard and nearshore islands. In recent years, citizen science programs have been developed to bolster monitoring efforts to better understand breeding success and identify site threat profiles. The development of protocols that facilitate the collection of consistent measurements is important for long-term monitoring of this threatened (Vulnerable) species. This study describes plumage development and age-related behaviour in juvenile Australian Fairy Terns using direct observations and photographic recapture of individually marked birds. This information may be used as the basis for the development of a field ageing guide, enabling the collection of standardised information on colony demographics and juvenile development. A temporary colour-banding study was trialled by painting nail varnish onto 15 Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme (ABBBS) incoloy bands, avoiding the need to band nestlings with additional readable or PVC colour-bands. The varnish remained intact, albeit chipped, on four surviving birds that were resighted ≤80 days after banding, enabling the identification of individuals away from the colony site, without the need for recapture. The temporary marking of ABBBS bands using nail varnish offered an effective short-term solution for identifying individual juvenile Fairy Terns in the field and for describing plumage changes over a period of c. 3 months.

Colonisation of a site by despotic bell miners: dispersal, establishment and diversity influences of banded birds

The bell miner (Manorina melanophrys) is a despotic honeyeater. Little is known about permanent colonisation in this species. Our banding study aimed to document changes in species richness over time and capture the effect of a despotic species. Our study is the first to document individual movements that led to the establishment of two permanent breeding colonies over 22 years of banding. One site in the Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan where birds moved in, compared to Camden Airport where bell miners have been present since the mid-1950s. Over the first 12 years there were three short-term visits by small groups of bell miners into the Conservation Woodland Area, in the Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan, for a maximum of three months. Retrapping of individuals showed that birds were first-year and older and travelled 2.1–4.2km. In 2016, both colonies contained over 120 birds and species richness changed, particularly of canopy-foraging species. At the Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan, 18 bird species decreased in number, with three no longer present (F33,34=2.50, P=0.00). Two other species also colonised the area and 13 increased in number. Understorey species such as the satin bowerbird, the eastern spinebill and the superb fairy-wren increased significantly. Movements of 0.3–1.0km were also detected at the Camden Airport site. At Camden Airport, five species decreased in number and four species increased but species richness stayed the same. Interestingly, bell miners decreased in number. After a heat wave in Summer 2016/17, bell miner weights declined and the colony disappeared. No eucalypt defoliation was observed in November 2017. Understorey modifications occurred only in areas away from the study sites during this project, suggesting that weather and food resources are the main contributing factors to colony establishment and longevity.