Publication Date
2-1-2005
Abstract
The colony of Black Skimmers (Ryncops niger) nesting in suboptimum weedy habitat in Rockport Beach Park from 1998–2003 was censused periodically and management efforts instituted to control vegetation and reduce mortality at the nesting site. Application of herbicides was partially successful for vegetation control. Appearance of first egg, first chick, and first fledgling were variable year to year, as were the number of birds present in the colony day to day. One hundred eighty-seven fledglings were produced in 1998, zero in 1999 and 2000, 108 in 2001, 82 in 2002, and 16 in 2003. These numbers may be insufficient to maintain the colony. Reproductive failure was mainly because of vegetation growth, which induced site abandonment and predation by Laughing Gulls and possibly Black Rats.
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Recommended Citation
Huckabee, John W.
(2005)
"Black Skimmers at Rockport Beach Park, Rockport, Texas,"
Bulletin of the Texas Ornithological Society: Vol. 38:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/tos_bulletin/vol38/iss1/2