A floating island in Maryland's Coastal Bays region is giving one of the region's most recognizable seabirds a much-needed boost. Lauren Imhof presents this story as part of our Conservation Conversations series.
The common tern is just one of Maryland's colonial nesting birds whose population has dramatically decreased since the 1980's. In response, Maryland's Department of Natural Resources, Audubon Mid-Atlantic, and the Maryland Coastal Bays Program have created an artificial nesting island to attract these birds back to their historical breeding grounds.
Going on six years strong, the island has seen remarkable population growth. According to Maryland Coastal Bays Program Bird Habitat Coordinator Kim Abplanalp, the colony expanded from just 24 nests in its first year to more than 300 in each of the past three breeding seasons.
"We've recovered over half of the breeding pairs from 20 years ago." Abplanalp said.
Covered with a layer of crushed shells, the raft features brightly decorated shelters and grasses to mimic the natural nesting conditions for terns. These organizations also placed solar panels on the island which run 24/7 camera feeds which help monitor the island in storm conditions. While this project is successful, Abplanalp said it is only a temporary solution to a much larger challenge.
"What we need in the coastal bays is to restore islands," she said. "They've lost about 70% of all nesting islands over the years."
Beyond restoring habitat, conservationists hope the project encourages residents and visitors to better understand the birds that define Maryland's coastal bays.
"Birds are part of this whole system that we all depend on," Abplanalp said. "It's one of the things that makes the coastal bays what they are."
Conservation Conversations is a partnership between Delmarva Public Media and the Lower Shoreland Trust. To learn more, visit lowershorelandtrust.org or delmarvapublicmedia.org.
