From Wildlife Extra:
Record Increase in Breeding Tropicbirds on Jarnein Island, Abu Dhabi
April 2007. Surveys have found a record increase in the number of Red-billed tropicbirds, a priority species. The surveys were carried out during the 2007 breeding on Jarnein Island, one of Abu Dhabi’s islands.
According to extensive nest search and mapping of tropicbird nests on the island carried out by The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), a record number of 217 tropicbird nests were recorded on the island.
Of the 217 nests, more than 71% (155 nests) were active, with chicks, eggs or adult birds present at the time of observation.
The 155 active nests represent nearly 150% increase from previous estimates. Of the 217 nests, nearly 40% had grown up chicks while nearly 28% had adult birds, either incubating or tending to downy chicks.
This is the first such extensive nest searching and mapping exercise conducted on the island for tropicbirds as the previous estimates of nesting tropicbirds were not based on actual mapping.
Red-billed tropicbirds are the largest of the the three tropicbird species, and are named after their curved, crimson bills: here.