Keywords
seabirds
Golfo San Jorge
breeding
cormorants
terns
How to Cite
Abstract
Coastal and urban development can have a negative impact on seabird populations, although in many cases birds take advantage of artificial structures that may provide them with more stable breeding conditions and/or with less predation pressure. This paper updates the distribution of seabird colonies on the central coast of the San Jorge Gulf, a region that has been modified for decades by human activities, and the status of populations breeding at the port of Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut. We identified 14 locations where between one and four species breed, including the Imperial Cormorant (Leucocarbo atriceps), Rock Shag (L. magellanicus), South American Tern (Sterna hirundinacea), Cayenne Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis eurygnathus) and Royal Tern (T. maximus). Except for the Royal Tern, these species reproduced in anthropic environments. Results showed changes in the locations and the sizes of colonies over the last 30 years. At the port of Comodoro Rivadavia the first four species bred in an abandoned shipyard, where nests were mostly built on artificial structures. The South American Tern colony (>9000 nests) at this site is the largest of those described for the Argentine Patagonian coast, and the Imperial Cormorant colony (>700 nests) is among the 10 largest of the 29 reported for the Chubut coast. This shows the value of the port of Comodoro Rivadavia for these seabirds. The results show the potential relevance of anthropic environments for the reproduction of seabirds and point to the need to consider alternative nesting sites, including those subjected to human activities, in any conservation strategy for their populations.
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