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Autumn marine bird populations in Queen Charlotte Strait and adjacent waters: a candidate for IBA/KBA status.
Citation
GASTON, A.J., MAFTEI, M. & PASTRAN, S.A. 2024. Autumn marine bird populations in Queen Charlotte Strait and adjacent waters: a candidate for IBA/KBA status.. Marine Ornithology 52: 1 - 15
Received 07 April 2023, accepted 07 July 2023
Date Published: 2024/04/15
Date Online: 2024/02/10
Key words: conservation, distribution, migration, Important Bird and Biodiversity Area, Key Biodiversity Area, Uria aalge, Cepphus columba, Brachyramphus marmoratus, Larus californicus, Larus glaucescens, Larus glaucoides, Larus brachyrhynchos
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.
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