Alter habitat to encourage birds to leave an area

Overall effectiveness category Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

20%
Certainty

10%
Harms

0%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Many ground-nesting seabirds require little or no vegetation to be able to nest. Therefore, if conservationists are trying to move a colony, for a number of reasons, they can make the habitat at the old site unsuitable by encouraging vegetation to grow there.

Many species of seabird disperse from colonies outside the breeding season, allowing work to be carried out without disturbing birds.

Study locations

Key messages

A single before-and-after study in the USA found that an entire Caspian tern Sterna caspia population moved following (amongst other interventions) the alteration of nesting habitat at the old colony site.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A before-and-after study on two small islands in the Columbia River Estuary, Oregon, USA (Roby et al. 2002), found that an entire Caspian tern Sterna caspia colony (approximately 8,900 pairs) relocated from Rice Island to East Sand Island between 1999 and 2001, following habitat alteration on Rice Island. Wheat Triticum aestivum was planted and silt fencing erected to encourage vegetation growth, whilst suitable habitat was prepared on East Sand Island (see ‘Habitat creation – intertidal habitats’) along with several other interventions (see ‘Use decoys to attract birds to new nesting areas’, ‘Use vocalisations to attract birds to new nesting areas’ and ‘Control avian predators on islands’). The impact on conflict reduction (the purpose of the translocation) is discussed in ‘Move fish-eating birds to reduce conflict with fishermen’.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Roby D.D., Collis K., Lyons D.E., Craig D.P., Adkins J.Y. & Myers A.M. (2002) Effects of colony relocation on diet and productivity of Caspian terns. Journal of Wildlife Management, 66, 662-673.

Please cite as:

Williams, D.R., Child, M.F., Dicks, L.V., Ockendon, N., Pople, R.G., Showler, D.A., Walsh, J.C., zu Ermgassen, E.K.H.J. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Bird Conservation. Pages 137-281 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Bird Conservation

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Translocate parrots Action Link	Likely to be beneficial	7	Synopsis Link
Use decoys to attract birds to safe areas Action Link	Likely to be beneficial	12	Synopsis Link
Use vocalisations to attract birds to safe areas Action Link	Likely to be beneficial	10	Synopsis Link