Dyer et al., 2005:

"The Capricornia Cays are important breeding sites for both Wedge-tailed Shearwaters (Puffinus pacificus) and Black Noddies (Anous minutus) in the context of both the Great Barrier Reef and the Australian region. These are the two numerically dominant breeding seabird species of the Capricornia Cays (King 1993; Hulsman et al. 1997). The area contains the Pacific Ocean's largest breeding population of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, surpassed only in the Houtman Abrolhos in the Indian Ocean (Fuller et al. 1994), and more than 97 per cent of the Black Noddies on the Great Barrier Reef (Hulsman et al. 1997).

Black Noddy
By assuming that the number of nests equals the number of breeding pairs, major declines in breeding activity were recorded on most islands from the 1996-97 season until a low point was reached in 1998-99, with a minor recovery indicated in 1999-2000 (Table 3). On Heron Island, Noddy nest numbers declined from ~70 000 to ~30 000 over the four years. On Masthead Island, although nest numbers dropped from 94206 (s.e. = 14.5%) in 1996-97 to 44428 (s.e. = 18.8%) in 1998-99, the recovery to 70815 (s.e. = 17.2%) in 1999-2000 meant the overall reduction was less than on Heron Island (Table 3).

This study presents the first calculated estimates of total population size for Wedge-tailed Shearwater and Black Noddy for the Capricornia Cays. The total numbers of both Shearwaters and Noddies confirm the high conservation status of the area for these species on national and international scales, and the importance of North West Island in particular."

---

Citation and/or URL

Dyer, P.K., O'Neill, P. & Hulsman, K. 2005, Breeding numbers and population trends of Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus pacifinus) and Black Noddy (Anous minutes) in the Capricorn Cays, southern Great Barrier Reef, Emu, 105: 249-257  © CSIRO 2005. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne Australia   http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/96/paper/MU04011.htm

Spatial Coverage

 Capricorn-Bunker Group

Temporal Coverage

 1996-2000

Update Frequency

 Not applicable 

Other Information

 None