Kuşkor ‘chick check’,
MEMBERS of the Society for the Protection of Birds and Nature (Kuşkor) travelled to the islets at the tip of the Karpaz peninsula to take “detailed measurements” of Audouin’s gull chicks.
The Kuşkor team went to the Kleide rock off Zafer Burnu by boat under their bird ringing scheme as part of the European Union for Bird Ringing international network.
British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)-trained ringers Dr Damla Beton and Dr Robin Snape used BTO “methods and standards” to colour ring the birds while Kuşkor photographer Olkan Ergüler documented the process.
They had received special permission to land on the rock from the Environmental Protection Department, a Kuşkor statement said.
The Audouin’s gull bird ringing scheme was launched in a trial in 2017, where just three chicks were identified and colour ringed.
However, the small number still contributed towards an understanding of the international movement of birds when one of the birds was photographed by HüseyinYorgancı at Kaplıca harbour in January this year, which confirmed that “at least some of them” remain on the island through the winter.
This, combined with other recent sightings where individual birds could be identified, encouraged Kuşkor to “have another go” at trying to track and document more birds on the island.
The trip to the “only Marine Important Bird Area on Cyprus” also served to refine the results obtained at the annual “seabird census” last month.
Of the 16 estimated nests in May, nine nests were found to have failed, “mostly with broken and or addled eggs, while two had failed chicks”, Kuşkor said.
“This could be related to disturbance from the nearby yellow-legged gull colony on Kasteleta island, as yellow-legged gulls are larger, more aggressive and are known to negatively influence Audouin’s gull breeding.
“We also can’t rule out that fishers are still periodically landing on the islands, although we saw no evidence to indicate that, and have not seen anyone on the islands in recent years so we believe the ban is being observed.
“In 2018, Kuşkor eradicated rats from Zinaritou island in the hope that this formerly used site might be recolonised and that the Audouin’s gulls might increase in number as a result, away from the yellow-legged gulls.
“Plans are in place in 2022 to use decoy birds (models of Audouin’s gulls sitting on nests) to attract them back to Zinaritou.
“Despite the nest failures observed this season, it is good to see that they are hanging in, fledging young, and that those young are surviving to adulthood.
“We hope that the North Cyprus ringed birds will continue to be observed, providing much needed information on their habitat use and potential population management challenges.”
Kuşkor thanked the Ornithological Society in the Middle East and the Anglo-Turkish Association of Northern Cyprus “for their financial contribution to Kuşkor’s habitat restoration projects at the Kleides Island archipelago”.