Beach nesting Little Terns have returned to breed on beaches of East Gippsland.
Little Terns, along with Fairy Terns, are a threatened species that migrate to the Gippsland Lakes Ramsar site each year to breed, however they often fail to successfully rear their chicks due to the disturbance of breeding sites.
Terns are a small seabird found in coastal and estuarine environments of Australia. They travel long distances to nest, flying in from northern Australia and some further afield.
There have been major declines to populations of Fairy and Little Terns across Australia due to predation from introduced species, loss of habitat and human activities. Breeding colonies are becoming rarer, and many traditional nesting sites have been abandoned.
“One of the biggest threats to these birds is disturbance at breeding sites by human activity, including dogs off-leash,” said Bec Hemming, chief executive officer of the East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority.
“Nest sites are regularly monitored by BirdLife Australia and volunteers and exclusion area signs installed, but it is vital that the community and visitors do all they can to ensure these species not only survive but thrive and continue to be an important visitor to the Gippsland Lakes.”
Deb Sullivan BirdLife Australia’s East Gippsland Conservation Coordinator said “as tempting as it might be to have a closer look at a colony every disturbance is harmful to the eggs, chicks and the wellbeing of the adults”.
“Adults need to preserve all their energy to successfully forage for food to raise their chicks. Every time they are disturbed and fly off, they lose valuable energy,” she said.
“Not only that, by disturbing the adults it provides an opportunity for scavenging predators such as Silver Gulls and Ravens to swoop in and steal the unattended eggs and chicks. We strongly recommend that people don’t approach the colony for the welfare of the birds.”
If you live near or are visiting the Gippsland Lakes this holiday season there are two simple things you can do to help this species survive and breed successfully including:
Reading and observing beach signage
– Avoiding cordoned off areas including not allowing dogs run around off leash
“The time it takes a baby tern to hatch, fledge and be ready to fly away to live as an adult is only a few weeks, so we hope that people take note of the signage and stay away, giving the birds the very best chance possible to survive, securing their existence into the future,” Deb said.
“As a community, we should be proud to still have the opportunity to protect these beautiful birds while they visit our region because one day they might not return,” added Deb.
