Seabird colonies of the small islands of bahía santa maría-La reforma, sinaloa, México

Abstract

During the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 breeding seasons (November to June), there were 21 colonies of 13 species, with at least 40,000 to 50,000 pairs of seabirds on six islands of Bahía Santa María-La Reforma in Mexico. Bahía Santa María maintains the largest breeding congregation of the west coast of Mexico for Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla; 22,000 pairs), Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus; 11,000 pairs) and Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger; 1,500 pairs). In the past decade, most of the species that breed on El Rancho Island (coastal dune habitat) have increased their population size, apparently related to a combination of factors such as colonies recently established (and hence still expanding) and increased habitat availability. On the other hand, species breeding on islands with mangroves seem to be decreasing (in particular the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) population), but with no obvious reason to explain these low numbers of some species. Despite the small size of the islands used by breeding seabirds, this coastal system supports important seabird populations and its conservation should be a priority.