Page 571 - Atlas Sea Birds Ver1

Acknowledgements

APM is indebted to Dr G Hofmeyr of the Port Elizabeth
Museum at Bayworld for vehicle logistics and Dr M Connan,
Coastal Marine Research Institute, Nelson Mandela
University, for assistance with counts at Alexandria
Dunefields. SANParks, Coega Development Corporation,
Pearson Park Resort, and Transnet National Ports
Authority allowed access to the areas under their
jurisdiction. PAW acknowledges funding support from
Marine and Coastal Management of the Department of
Environmental Affairs (now branch Oceans and Coasts of
the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment)
and from the National Research Foundation. The late Tony
Tree carried out counts of breeding Damara Terns and
provided transport. SANParks provided PAW and Tony
A Damara Tern chick (photo BM Dyer) Tree with accommodation at Sundays River Mouth. PAW
thanks Cathy Wiid of the Zoology Department, Nelson
An outcome of the eastern shift in some of southern Mandela University, for management of funds.
Africa’s seabirds is that large proportions of global or
regional populations of species endemic to the Benguela References
ecosystem now breed at the eastern boundary of this
system (Sherley et al. 2019, Makhado et al. 2021). Allport GA, Gilroy D, Reed C. 2022. The status and distribution of
Although a recently fledged young was seen east of Woody three species of Sternula terns on the eastern coast of Africa
Cape, it is uncertain whether Damara Terns in the Eastern and in the western Indian Ocean, with two species new for
Cape will be able to move their breeding sites farther east. Mozambique. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 142:
This necessitates effective conservation of their known 190–208.
easternmost colonies. BirdLife International. 2020. Guidelines for the application of the
IBA criteria. Final version, July 2020. 18 pp. Downloaded
from http://datazone.birdlife.org/ on 20 May 2022.
Other conservation issues BirdLife International. 2021. Sternula balaenarum. The IUCN Red
List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T22694699A179473845.
Species such as Damara Terns that have a deferred age https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.LTS.
at breeding and high adult survival (Braby 2011) may be T22694699A179473845.en. Accessed on 13 May 2022.
sensitive to increases in adult mortality. In Angola and West Braby J. 2011. The biology and conservation of the Damara Tern in
Africa, tern species are caught for food and for sale but Namibia. PhD thesis. University of Cape Town, South Africa:
233 pp.
no information exists regarding the scale of this trade and Braby RJ, Braby J, Braby S, Simmons RE, Crawford RJM.
its impact on Damara Terns (Braby 2011). Damara Terns 2024. Numbers, trends, and conservation of Damara Terns
nesting in South Africa face varied threats including off-road (Sternula balaenarum) in Namibia and Angola. This volume.
driving, habitat degradation due to coastal development and Cooper J, Williams AJ, Britton PI. 1984. Distribution, population
commercial (including mining) and recreational activities sizes, and conservation of breeding seabirds in the
(Williams et al. 2004, Crawford et al. 2018, Martin 2019). Afrotropical region. ICBP Technical Publication 2: 403–420.
South Africa’s Damara Terns are widely dispersed with Crawford RJM, Whittington PA, Martin AP, Tree AJ, Makhado AB.
isolated pockets breeding along its northwest, southwest 2009. Population trends of seabirds breeding in South Africa’s
and south-central shores (Figure 1). Dwindling numbers in Eastern Cape, and the possible influence of anthropogenic
the northwest and southwest were such that observed sizes and environmental change. Marine Ornithology 37: 159–174.
of the four extant colonies in those regions in 2018 ranged Crawford RJM, Dyer BM, Kotze PGH, McCue S, Meyer MA, Upfold
L, Makhado AB (eds). 2012. Status of seabirds breeding in
from just 1–5 pairs (Table 1), making their long-term viability South Africa in 2011. Oceans and Coasts, Department of
tenuous. Losses of regional populations will fragment the Environmental Affairs; Cape Town, South Africa.
species’ population and increase the likelihood that it will Crawford RJM, Makhado AB, Whittington PA, Randall RM,
suffer from Allee effects (reduced fitness at low population Oosthuizen WH, Waller LJ. 2015. A changing distribution
size, Ryan et al. 2012), thereby increasing its probability of of seabirds in South Africa – the possible impact of climate
extinction. and its consequences. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 3:
In conclusion, for Damara Terns in South Africa, high 1–10.
priority should be given to protecting and managing the Crawford RJM, Dyer BM, Geldenhuys L, Oosthuizen WH,
colonies at the Old Abalone Farm and the Schelmhoek Makhado AB. 2018. Seabird breeding populations decrease
and Alexandria Dunefields and attempting to preserve and along the arid coastline of South Africa’s Northern Cape
province. Ostrich 89: 299–305.
increase the small colonies at pans in the Northern Cape Every, B. 1979. Damara Tern in Eastern Cape. The Bee-eater 30:
and at Struis Bay. 1–2.

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