Breeding success of Red-tailed Tropicbirds (Phaethon rubricauda), Raine Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia (2008-2021)

Brief description

Multi-purpose survey trips to Raine Island, Great Barrier Reef (coordinates: 11 35 26.26 S, 144 2 6.66 E) were conducted by Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science (DES) between 2008 and 2021, totaling between one and five surveys per year, at least 1 month apart (see cited paper). Between 2008 and 2021 there were 36 visits to Raine Island where detailed nest surveys were conducted (in surveys from 2011 to 2014 life stage of the offspring was not recorded). Monitoring of Red-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda) nests followed Raine Island standard monitoring procedures. Surveyors recorded the GPS location and the contents of all accessible nests on the island, which included the number of adults, the presence/absence of an egg or offspring, and the life stage of the offspring recorded as either a newly hatched chick, a young chick, or an adolescent (an offspring of fledging age), according to observations of their plumage (Fleet 1974). Surveys after 2015 included the monitoring of ten nest boxes deployed on Raine Island in 2016 by DES.