Title
Successful breeding of Caspian Terns Hydroprogne caspia in the Arctic - Part of the new normal?
Author(s)
Haynes, Trevor B.;Tibbles, Marguerite;Rodriguez, Kevin;Haggerty Perault, Brian;Robards, Martin D;.
Published
2017
Publisher
Marine Ornithology
Abstract
Caspian Terns Hydroprogne caspia have expanded their range in the Eastern Pacific, including southern areas of Alaska, over the past
several decades. In 2015, we discovered a pair of Caspian Terns on a small gravel island within Krusenstern Lagoon in Cape Krusenstern
National Monument and monitored their breeding status until they successfully fledged two chicks. This site is 653 km north of where
Caspian Terns had previously been reported to successfully fledge a chick, and represents the first observations of the species breeding
above the Arctic Circle or along the Chukchi Sea coastline. The successful fledging of two chicks at Krusenstern Lagoon suggests that
this site, and possibly other Arctic sites, can be suitable breeding habitat. Snow cover and sea-ice duration have decreased dramatically
in the Chukchi Sea region over the past four decades; as well, seasonal melt-out has become earlier and freeze-up later. As a result of
the longer ice-free season, the Arctic may have recently become available as Caspian Tern breeding habitat as it can now accommodate
the long breeding season of this species.
Keywords
range expansion;climate change;distribution;sea ice;Caspian Terns;Arctic lagoons;Sterna caspia
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PUB22779