The Northern New Zealand Seabird Trust - Tara/White-fronted tern Diet and Population Survey
The Northern New Zealand Seabird Trust ran a nationwide photo competition to encourage citizen science in the ‘Year of the Terns 2022’.
The aim was to gather data about the diets of white-fronted terns using the non-invasive method of digital photography. This is an easy way of gathering a lot of good data, and was intended as a pilot study for continuing long-term monitoring using this method.
A total of 27 photographers entered the competition, submitting 192 photos including several portfolios from colonies. Images were collated and presented to the judges without the photographers’ names visible, to ensure blind judging of images. Prey items were identified and the data can probably be pooled by marine biogeographic region, although there likely aren’t enough observations to look at seasonal shifts. The 2022 Birds New Zealand Research Fund grant was used mainly for boat fuel costs to ensure our colony counts for the wider Hauraki Gulf region continued into a fourth season. The judges were Edin Whitehead, Tony Whitehead and Neil Fitzgerald, and the prey items were identified by Malcolm Francis and Clinton Duffy. While there was fairly good geographic coverage, notable areas missing included: Northland, Bay of Plenty, Kaikoura, North and South Canterbury, Southland, and Rakiura. This is something we would address if the project is repeated.
- Content supplied by The Northern New Zealand Seabird Trust