Natural And Dredged Material Nesting Habitats Of Gull-Billed Terns, Common Terns, And Black Skimmers In North Carolina

In the early 1970s evidence suggested that man's encroachment upon natural nesting sites of colonially nesting seabirds had caused some of these birds to forsake traditional beachfronts and natural island. sites for manmade, dredged material islands (Buckley and Buckley, 1975; Soots and Parnell, 1975a). Soots and Parnell (1975b) estimated that in 1973 more than 82 percent of all colonially nesting seabird nests in North Carolina were placed on dredged material islands. If management of dredged material islands for seabird nesting habitat is to be initiated as proposed by Soots and Parnell (1975a) and Buckley and Buckley (1976), the habitats of these species on natural and dredged material islands should be characterized. Grant no. 04-6-158-44054