Recent Breeding of Caspian Terns in Northwest Florida
McNair D and Gore J. 2000. Recent Breeding of Caspian Terns in Northwest Florida. Florida Field Naturalist. 28(1):30 - 32
Caspian Terns (Sterna caspia) were first confirmed to breed in Florida in 1962 (Woolfenden and Meyerriecks 1963) and they have nested only rarely in the state since then (Stevenspn and Anderson 1994, Paul 1996). Nesting has occurred annually since at least 1974 on several islands of dredged-material in Tampa Bay (Paul 1996), but elsewhere nesting last occurred on dredged-material islands near East Point, Franklin Co., in 1979 (Stevenson 1979, Stevenson and Anderson 1994) and along the Banana River, Brevard Co., in 1980 (one pair defending territory, Schroeder 1980; also see Salata 1979). Caspian Terns also reportedly bred during five consecutive years (1979-1983) in Apalachicola Bay at a diked dredged-material island (called Drake Wilson or Two-Mile island) just southwest of Apalachicola, Franklin Co. (Landin et al. 1989:121), but no confirming data were reported. We document herein a new colony site of the Caspian Tern at Apalachicola. As part of a channel-dredging operation, an island of undiked dredged-material was created early in 1995 in Apalachicola Bay, 1 km south of the Gorrie Bridge at the mouth of the Apalachicola River. The island remained nearly barren through 1995, perhaps due to the erosion caused by three tropical cyclones that year. During late spring and summer of 1996, we found 13 species of herbaceous plants covering 1.5 m high and patches were up to 4 m wide.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- McNair, Douglas; Gore, Jeffrey
- Units
- SFCN
- Keywords
- American Oystercatcher, Black Skimmer, Caspian tern, Franklin County, Gullbilled Tern, Least Tern, Nest, Nesting