The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has announced the return of seabird life on Broughton Island, a first for the island since pest eradication efforts a decade ago.
Director Hunter Central Coast for NPWS, Kylie Yeend said that for the first time in 10 years there was evidence Gould’s Petrels had bred on the island near Port Stephens.
“It’s very exciting news,” Ms Yeend said.
“After the removal of rats and rabbits, we began a second phase with a two-pronged approach,” she said.
“We started ‘sound attraction’, in which speakers broadcast bird noises continuously overnight, and installed nesting boxes.”
Ms Yeend said a Gould’s Petrel chick had now been found in a nesting box, showing that breeding was occurring on the island in response to the intervention.
“It’s encouraging to see habitat creation being utilised for successful breeding,” she said.
“In December 2018, the Gould’s Petrels started using the boxes but it wasn’t until December last year that an adult was discovered incubating an egg in a nest box.”
Ms Yeend said the success was part of a program to restore seabirds to the island thanks to a collaboration between NPWS, the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE Ecosystems and Threatened Species), the Hunter Bird Observers Club (HBOC) and Birdlife Australia.
