Colonial Waterbird Management in North America

Colonial waterbirds are an important natural resource highly valued by many people in Canada and the United States. The habit of nesting often in large groups makes these birds especially susceptible to problems, such as human disturbance, predation, severe weather events, and competition for nesting habitat. They, like all birds, also face threats from habitat degradation, loss and contamination of their environments, and changes in food webs. Management strategies to deal with these problems include habitat preservation and restoration, the elimination of toxic chemicals from the environment, reduction of predation, competition, and disturbance at nesting sites, reintroduction of species to nesting sites from which they have been eliminated, and fisheries management from a multispecies ecosystem perspective. Techniques are discussed and examples provided. A few colonial waterbird species have increased greatly in numbers and now pose problems for other bird species or are in conflict with people. Management is also involved in the control of such problem birds. Strategies include habitat modifications and scaring or killing problem birds. There is a continuing need for information and research to allow appropriate management to be applied. Regular surveys and inventories are necessary on a regional basis to detect trends in population status and to minimize and mitigate conflicts with human activities. Studies of population demography are needed for species declining in numbers, and research into species ecology is often necessary before appropriate management can be applied. Additional techniques to reduce conflicts between birds and humans are also needed. Human activities are likely a major limiting factor for some species, and, conversely, humans are largely responsible for the increases of several species that have become problems. Continued education of the public and of conservation management agencies to the role and importance of colonial waterbirds is important. Many species are likely to continue to suffer from gradual incremental loss and degradation of habitats, and a conservation strategy for the protection of these birds throughout North America is recommended.