Fred, David, and Texbirders,
Here is an excerpt from Tunnell and Chapman 2000, (
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237471888_Seabirds_of_the_Campeche_Bank_Islands_Southeastern_Gulf_of_Mexico).
If there is a report or peer-reviewed article to follow the survey, this
would be a good reference to include. Dr. Tunnell of the Harte Research
Institute at Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi passed away a few days
ago. He had the curiosity of a scientific explorer and the patience and
persistence of a great teacher.
Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster)
The Brown Booby, which often nests in association with Masked and Red-footed
boobies, may be the most common booby in the world (Nelson 1978). It breeds
pantropically and occupies habitats that are similar to those of the Masked
Booby (Dorward
1962), but the Brown Booby feeds closer to shore and can tolerate muddier
water (Murphy
1936). The breeding ecology of the species was described by Chapman (1908),
Thayer
(1 9 1 l), Dorward (1 962), Simmons (1 967) and Nelson (1 978).
Despite Lowery and Newman's (1 954) claim that the species did not breed on
islands
in the Gulf of Mexico, Brown Booby colonies were reported from three
islands on Arrecife
Alacrines. Komicker et al. (1959) listed the species as one of seven
seabirds that they
observed nesting on the Alacran islands in June, 1959, but they did not
indicate where they
saw the birds or the stage of the nesting cycle. Paynter (1 955) saw 300
birds on Isla Pajaros
in early September 1952, but the birds were not nesting at the time. Bonet
and Rzedowski
(1962) however, photographed a pair of Brown Booby on the nest sometime
during their
visits to Isla Pajaros in 1960 or 196 1. They also photographically
documented the nesting of
Brown Booby on Isla Desertora. Neither Paynter (1955) nor Boswall (1978)
saw Brown
Booby nests on Isla Desterrada, but according to the lighthouse keeper on
the island, the
boobies nested there in the spring. Our visit to Isla Desterrada predated
Lockwood's (1 989)
by almost a year, and we also found a small colony of Brown Booby.
Lockwood's account
does not mention the stage of nesting that he observed in April, but we
found that most of the
young had fledged in January and we saw no signs of nesting activity in
July. Boswall
(1978) found no signs of nesting activity when he visited Isla Desertora in
mid-September.
Although Nelson (1978) indicates that the period of heaviest laying in the
Caribbean
and Atlantic occurs from October to May and a limited amount of egg laying
may occur
during the remainder of the year, we feel that the breeding season for
Brown Booby is much
more restricted in the southern Gulf. The heaviest period of laying
probably occurs from
October to March. Some laying activity may also occur from April through
June but there
appears to be no nesting activity during the rest of the year. We found no
evidence in
historical accounts to justify the assumption by Friedmann et al. (1950)
that Brown Booby
nested on Cayos Arcas. Although the habitats on Cayo del Centro appear
suitable, we did
not find any indication that Brown Booby nested there recently. Since the
Brown Booby is
the least pelagic booby, van Halewyn and Norton (1984) suggested the
species might be
more vulnerable to oil spills. If the species nested on Cayos Arcas in the
past, contamination
from the IXTOC-I oil spill may have affected the population. Cayos Arcas is
the reef
complex that is located closest to the site of the IXTOC-I well blowout.
Richard Gibbons
Houston, TX
*_______________________Richard E. Gibbons, PhDConservation DirectorHouston
Audubon
<http://www.houstonaudubon.org/Default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1>440
Wilchester Boulevard, Houston, TX 77079 Research AssociateLSU Museum of
Natural Science <http://appl003.lsu.edu/natsci/lmns.nsf/index>119 Foster
Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803*
On Thu, Jul 19, 2018 at 11:36 AM, Collins, Fred (Commissioner Pct. 3) <
FCollins@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
The following numbers are from:
*STATUS OF SEABIRD NESTING POPULATIONS*
*ON ARRECIFE ALACRANES, GULF OF MEXICO*
THOR E. MORALES-VERA1, F. DANIEL RUZ-ROSADO2, ENRIQUETA VELARDE2, &
EDWARD O. KEITH3†
This is the closest breeding area to Texas. It was surveyed in 1986 and
again in 2009
Brown Booby went from 10 pair to 80 pair. Red-footed went from one pair to
13. Masked Booby dropped from 2536 to 1615 pairs. If the increase continued
from 2009 through this nesting season it could account for all the birds
appearing in Texas.
I think David has a splendid idea.
*Fred Collins*, Director
Kleb Woods Nature Center
20303 Draper Road,Tomball TX 77377
<https://maps.google.com/?q=20303+Draper+Road,Tomball+TX+77377+%0D%0A+281&entry=gmail&source=g>
281
<https://maps.google.com/?q=20303+Draper+Road,Tomball+TX+77377+%0D%0A+281&entry=gmail&source=g>
-357-5324
Harris County Precinct 3
*Steve Radack Commissioner*
www.pct3.com
*From:* texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> *On
Behalf Of *Dennis Shepler
*Sent:* Wednesday, July 18, 2018 4:24 PM
*To:* David Sarkozi <david@xxxxxxxxxxx>; 1 Texbirds (
texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [texbirds] Re: Brown Booby Search
Davey et al
I would like to know what is happening to the south regarding water temps,
food source availability/population trends, number of fledged young, nest
habitat dynamics, amount of plastics/microplastics in feeding areas, etc.
Boobies are here but what are the causes of the inordinate dispersal of
boobies. From what population(s) are the birds we are finding. If anyone
has that info, it would be nice to peruse. Determining the dispersal
throughout Texas would be an interesting endeavor and I would join David,
and others, in that effort in October.
Shepler
On Wed, Jul 18, 2018 at 2:59 PM Dennis Shepler <dawgler@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Davey et al
I would like to know what is happening to the south regarding water temps,
food source availability/population trends, number of fledged young, nest
habitat dynamics, amount of plastics/microplastics in feeding areas, etc.
Boobies are here but what are the causes of the inordinate dispersal of
boobies. From what population(s) are the birds we are finding. If anyone
has that info, it would be nice to peruse. Determining the dispersal
throughout Texas would be an interesting endeavor and I would join David,
and others, in that effort in October.
Shepler
On Wed, Jul 18, 2018 at 2:48 PM Dennis Shepler <dawgler@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
interested in joining the search. my participation will be based on my
health conditions at the time of the census/search. I will contact you as
we approach the date. If you are on the 9/22 pelagic, I will there (I
hope).
Billy D. Dawgler
On Wed, Jul 18, 2018 at 2:32 PM David Sarkozi <david@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Would you be interested in participating in a Brown Booby search on the
weekend of October 13-14, 2018? The explosion of Brown Booby records in
Texas fascinates me. By month I took a look at the last 5 years plus 2018
so far and found there are about 99 reports in eBird. Tallying these by
month shows the majority of records come from October (12 records). Records
from Scurry, Wise, Tarrant, and Camp county show Brown Boobies are possible
on almost any large body of water in the state. Records in Nebraska and
Iowa suggest that even Lake Meredith in the panhandle could possibly host a
bird. There are a number of lakes that get scant attention from birders. I
propose we organize a search of as many lakes and bays as possible that
weekend and see how many if any Texas birders can find.
--
David Sarkozi
Houston, TX
(713) 412-4409 twitter ID dsarkozi
--
W. Dennis Shepler
--
W. Dennis Shepler
--
W. Dennis Shepler
