Dataset includes model-based indices of regional abundance for colonial seabirds in each of three regions of Canada (Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic).
Annually during the breeding season.
Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Canada.
Atlantic Species: Atlantic Puffin, Black-legged Kittiwake, Common Murre, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Herring Gull, Leach’s Storm-Petrel, Northern Gannet, Razorbill, Ring-billed Gull Pacific species: Ancient Murrelet, Cassin’s Auklet, Rhinocerous Auklet, Tufted Puffin Arctic species: Black-legged Kittiwake, Northern Fulmar, Thick-billed Murr
Estimate the status and trend of Canadian colonial seabird populations.
Islands that support large colonies of breeding seabirds are surveyed periodically to provide trend information, though the revisit schedule and field methodologies applied on individual islands vary. For surface-nesting species (e.g., gannets, cormorants, gulls, kittiwakes, murres) counts of the entire colony were often made directly from the ground, aerial surveys, or photographs. On large islands where a direct count is not possible, and for burrow-nesting species, a sample of permanent monitoring plots were established on a grid across the extent of the colony. For burrow-nesting species, burrow entrances were counted within monitoring plots and a sample of those were inspected to determine occupancy. Nest densities were then calculated as the product of burrows x occupancy. Total abundance was calculated as the product of nest density and total colony area (estimated by field crews on the island)
