CALIFORNIA (USA), Farallon Islands - November 2001
Nesting boxes for threatened auklet species
Click photo to enlarge
Rhinoceros Auklets are a crevice/burrow nesting marine bird that was once plentiful in California, but most of the breeding population had disappeared by the late 1800s. After designation of Northern California's Farallon Islands as a National Wildlife Refuge in the 1970s, populations began to recover. Presently the Farallon Islands, Ano Nuevo Island and Castle Rock in Northern California provide habitat for approximately 96 percent of the California breeding populations, totaling no more than 2,000 birds. Mating pairs lay only one egg per year. Rhino Auklets are designated as a "species of special concern" by the state of California and a "species of high priority management need" by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Since 1976 the Point Reyes Bird Observatory has deployed over 500 Auklet nesting boxes on Southeast Farallon and Ano Nuevo Islands. Both species have readily occupied boxes, and valuable information on population dynamics has been gained. Seacology has provided funding for the construction and installation of 65 additional nesting boxes.
UPDATE July 2004 - All auklet nesting boxes were constructed in early 2002. In 2003, pairs of Rhinoceros Auklets breeding in nest boxes on Southeast Farallon Island increased by 43 percent. Pairs of Rhinoceros Auklets and Cassin’s Auklets that were new to the boxes in 2002 have now returned two years in a row to breed on the Farallon Islands and on Año Nuevo Island.
