Chinese Crested Tern has its most successful breeding season since rediscovery

One of the rarest birds in the world, only rediscovered 15 years ago after being presumed extinct, has had its best-ever breeding season.

The Critically Endangered Chinese Crested Tern is one of the rarest birds in the world, having only been rediscovered 15 years ago after its assumed extinction for six decades, and has a very small population and only three known breeding sites. BirdLife has now announced that the species has had its most successful breeding season since rediscovery, thanks to a project to restore a breeding colony on Tiedun Dao, on the Jiushan Islands, where over 70 per cent of the global population (that is, a minimum of 52 birds) has bred this year.

As part of this successful project, conservation groups and volunteers from mainland China, Hong Kong and the USA successfully initiated the first ever tagging operation of Chinese Crested Tern and other seabirds on the Jiushan Islands, and 31 birds were fitted with numbered bands on their legs so more can be learned about the species in order to continue to help them survive.

Simba Chan, Senior Conservation Officer of BirdLife Asia, braved a severe typhoon to ensure the colony's breeding success. For the second year running he lived on the island throughout the nesting season to monitor and protect the birds, and to dissuade illegal egg-collectors. As a result, at least 25 breeding pairs of Chinese Crested Tern managed to nest and at least 16 chicks successfully fledged.

The known 52 individual birds were attracted to the safe nesting site by the team's decoys and sound playback system, as in the previous two years. 2015 is also the first year that birds have been attracted to all three proven breeding sites: the Jiushan Islands and the Wuzhishan Islands of Zhejiang Province, and the Mazu Islands along the coast of Fujian Province. Each had successful breeding records this year — only the Jiushan Islands managed this in 2014.

Adult Chinese Crested Tern among Crested Terns (Photo: Simba Chan)

Chinese Crested Tern has an estimated population of fewer than 100 individuals. Taking the minimum estimate of 13 fledged chicks from Tiedun Dao in 2014, within two to three years the number of breeding Chinese Crested Terns could have doubled from the number present when the project was initiated in 2010, when the global population was no more than 50 birds.

Talking about the day when the super-typhoon hit Tiedun Dao in the middle of the breeding season, Simba Chan said: "Although the typhoon was very strong and hit us directly, less than 5 per cent of the colony were casualties because we maintained vegetation to shelter the colony, and tried to discourage the chicks from moving down to the shore before the typhoon hit the island. This shows how we could apply our scientific observations from the previous year to improve the survival rate of the terns."

He added: "This year, we will work with Burung Indonesia (BirdLife in Indonesia) to promote awareness at potential wintering sites for these birds. Suitable transmitters are being considered for tracking the migration of Chinese and Greater Crested Terns in the coming years to reveal their migratory route."

The regular monitoring and banding of terns was documented by China Central Television. The documentary will be shown throughout China on major television channels in late 2015 and will bring a greater awareness of bird conservation among the general public in China — important for all the depleted seabird populations along China's coast.