Detroit Bird Alliance

THE BLACK TERN POPULATION AROUND THE GREAT LAKES AND ESPECIALLY AT ST CLAIR FLATS HAS SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED. DETROIT BIRD ALLIANCE HAS MONITORED THE BLACK TERN POPULATION AT ST. CLAIR FLATS FOR OVER A DECADE AND WITNESSED THE DECLINE OF THE COLONY. WE HAVE EXPERIMENTED WITH SEVERAL TYPES OF NESTING PLATFORMS AND HAVE FOUND A CANVAS AND STYROFOAM DESIGN TO ATTRACT THE MOST BREEDING PAIRS OF BLACK TERNS. TO SUPPORT THE ST. CLAIR FLATS BLACK TERN POPULATION, DETROIT BIRD ALLIANCE WILL INSTALL ARTIFICIAL NESTING PLATFORMS AND TEST WHETHER THEY BENEFIT BLACK TERN NEST SUCCESS, AND WILL SPREAD AWARENESS OF BLACK TERNS AS A LOCAL THREATENED SPECIES. EACH YEAR WE WILL INSTALL 30 PLATFORMS AND 30 NEST CAMERAS. WE WILL PLACE 15 NEST CAMERAS ON NATURAL NESTS (NOT ON A PLATFORM) AND 15 NEST CAMERAS ON NESTS ON TOP OF THE NESTING PLATFORMS. WE WILL HIRE A CAMERA TECHNICIAN TO LEAD THE SET UP AND INSTALLATION OF THE NEST CAMERAS. USING THE DATA COLLECTED BY THE NEST CAMERAS WE WILL BE ABLE TO CONDUCT ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE PLATFORMS INCREASE NESTING SUCCESS. TO COMPLETE THIS WORK WE WILL PARTNER WITH THE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES TO SUPPLY US WITH A MUD BOAT AND GAS, AND WE WILL PARTNER WITH AUDUBON GREAT LAKES FOR SETTING UP AN ARCGIS DATA COLLECTION APPLICATION AND FOR DATA ANALYSIS. TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF NESTING BLACK TERNS AS A THREATENED SPECIES WE WILL HOST A RANGE OF OUTREACH INITIATIVES. WE WILL ALSO HIRE AN ARTIST TO DESIGN A LOGO AND CAMPAIGN TO USE ON STICKERS, FLIERS, AND AN INTERPRETIVE SIGN. EACH YEAR WE WILL HOST OUTREACH EVENTS INCLUDING TABLING AT TWO EVENTS, PRESENTING IN PERSON, AND PRESENTING A WEBINAR. EACH YEAR WILL ALSO INCLUDE A ST. CLAIR FLATS PONTOON TOUR FOR LONG-TERM DONORS AND GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES, AND TWO ST. CLAIR FLATS HABITAT AND CONSERVATION YOUTH GROUP TOURS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH AUDUBON GREAT LAKES. THROUGH ALL OF THIS WORK WE CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT BLACK TERNS AND HOW TO SUPPORT THEIR POPULATION AT ST. CLAIR FLATS AND WE CAN TEACH THE COMMUNITY AROUND ST. CLAIR FLATS HOW THEY CAN ALSO SUPPORT THESE BIRDS.