Subject: Black Tern status and research
Date: Sep 3 20:30:44 1996
From: Scott Richardson - salix


Tweeters:
Are there any Black Tern fanciers or fanatics out there? Here's =
something of interest from Chip Weseloh in Ontario.
"A half day symposium on Black Terns will be held at the 1996 meeting =
of the Colonial Waterbird Society [Charleston, SC, October]. ...In =
response to reported declines in breeding numbers and problems with =
reproductive success, the symposium will collate breeding status and =
range information from across North America, and examine breeding =
biology studies and conservation and management actions in effect. We =
are particularly interested in accounts from areas of the continent =
where Black Terns have been little studied or censused. The symposium =
will be published in summer 1997 as a collection of refereed papers and =
extended abstracts in the Canadian Wildlife Service's Occasional Paper =
series."

Here is an opportunity for someone interested in Black Terns to =
contribute a summary of their status in Washington, as well as reporting =
whether any research on the species is taking place here.
I have corresponded with Dr. Weseloh about the abstract deadline (which =
has passed), and believe he will accept a late submission. My suggestion =
is not to travel to South Carolina to present a paper, but to offer a =
Washington story to complement other accounts of the tern's status =
throughout North America. Presumably, Weseloh will summarize such =
reports in his symposium remarks and include the abstract in the CWS =
series.
Any Tweeter who would like to explore this, with or without my =
assistance, is welcome to it. Any Tweeter with information on the Black =
Tern's status in Washington, or who knows of anyone working with the =
species here, is welcome to post the information to the listserver for =
possible inclusion in any abstract that might come from this.
I have a head start with some info and will gladly respond to =
questions.

Scott Richardson
NE Seattle
salix at halcyon.com