Restoring Seabirds to Eastern Brothers Island by Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
Increasing the number and distribution of tern, puffin, and razorbill seabird colonies along the Maine coast is an important goal in Maine’s wildlife action plan. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife worked with the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge to restore Eastern Brothers Island in 2007. Efforts included setting up 128 tern, Atlantic puffin, and razorbill decoys to attract birds, conducting a prescribed burn, and setting up a system to continuously play tern colony sounds. Regular sightings of razorbills and a breeding pair of common terns in 2007 indicate Eastern Brothers Island will soon become a productive colony, conserving these birds before they become more rare and costly to protect.
Photo: Razorbill decoys/US Fish and Wildlife Service
