The Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR) is reminding residents and visitors of the Turks and Caicos Islands that the summer seabird nesting season is underway and that many species of gulls, terns, noddies, and other seabirds nest on the cays and remote beaches from May through August yearly.
DECR notes that all birds and their nests and eggs are protected in Turks and Caicos Islands under the Wild Birds Protection Ordinance, specifically:
Section 3 (1) “Any person commits an offense against this Ordinance who – (a) Wilfully kills, wounds, or takes, or attempts to kill, wound, or take any wild bird;(b) takes, removes, injures or destroys any nest or egg of any wild bird.”
This includes disturbing nesting sites by landing on seabird cays, walking through nesting areas, and allowing pets onto seabird cays or into nesting areas. Breeding seabirds can be highly sensitive to human activities at or near their nesting sites.
Disturbance can affect nesting success and have longer-term impacts on colonies. Eggs are fragile and easily broken, eggs and small chicks can die if left unattended, and adult birds can abandon their nest resulting in breeding failure if disturbance is persistent.
Most of the remote cays on which seabirds nest are Protected Areas under the National Parks Ordinance (see list at end of article); those seabirds and their nests are also protected from disturbance by that Ordinance. Many of the remote seabird nesting cays are classified as Sanctuaries, for which landing without written permission from DECR (including landing on the beaches) is prohibited.
Seabirds may also nest in open areas on other islands, especially on beaches and dunes. Many species of seabirds do not make nests and keep their well-camouflaged eggs and chicks directly on sand or rock, which makes walking through a nesting area very dangerous to the eggs and chicks.
If you enter an area where seabirds are flying closely and noisily overhead, it is important to leave the area immediately. Do not attempt to throw objects or sand at the birds. They will not leave their nests. It is also crucial that eggs or chicks, even if seemingly abandoned, are not removed from the wild. As visitors to their habitats, and stewards of their ecosystem, it is our responsibility to minimise disturbance in this crucial time of their life cycle.
DECR Director Lormeka Williams explains: “Seabirds come to land only once per year to reproduce, and even seemingly small disturbances can ruin a nesting year. We are only beginning to understand the vital ecological role of nesting seabirds to the health of our coral reefs and their fascinating domino effect whereby the perfectly balanced nutrient load from their nesting areas promotes not only increased fish presence, but also the health of large pelagic fish such as sharks.”
Dr Rhiannon Auston of University of Liverpool has been working on seabird research in collaboration with DECR and the Turks and Caicos National trust for several years.
Dr Austin states: “Seabirds are important components of healthy marine ecosystems. Many species are marine top predators that eat huge quantities of fish and roam over large stretches of the oceans to find food. Therefore, they link offshore and nearshore ecosystems, and playing important roles in nutrient cycling and maintaining healthy reefs.”
Dr Auston continues: “Seabirds are sensitive to changes in food availability and breed on land, making them relatively easy to monitor. Thus, they are excellent indicators of the health of marine ecosystems and are great tools for management.”
Follow seabird research in TCI on social media: @tciseabirds
Cays within Sanctuaries, where landing without written permission is prohibited, include the following: Caicos Bank: French Cay, Seal Cay, Seal Pup Cays, White Cay, Pear Cay, Indian Cay, Shot Cay, and Bush Cay.
On the Turks Bank, the prohibited areas are: Long Cay and Big Sand Cay. Other cays that are protected as National Parks or Nature Reserves include: Caicos Bank - Chalk Sound Cays, Little Water Cay, Mangrove Cay, Lizard Cay, Bird Cay, Star Island, Fort St George Cay, Grouper Cay, Stubbs Cay, Three Mary Cays, East Bay Cays, Guana Cay, Middleton Cay, Horse Cay, Iguana Cay, Small Moxey Bush, Dove Cay, Long Cay, Six Hills Cays, Fish Cays, and Little Ambergris Cay.
On the Turks Bank: Gibb’s Cay, Round Cay, Penniston Cay, Pear Cay, and Martin Alonzo Pinzon Cay (East Cay).
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