Caribbean Roseate Tern nest survival and monitoring data

Determining how site characteristics influence reproductive success can help guide conservation planning for declining wildlife populations. For colonially-breeding seabirds, nest survival and predation risk can be influenced by both colony and nest site characteristics such as colony size, nest density, and nest location. We evaluated reproductive success of a declining population of Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands to identify primary causes of nest failure and investigate the influence of colony and nest site covariates on nest survival. In addition, we measured the influence of colony characteristics on chick provisioning to determine if resource competition in larger colonies affected foraging rates. Monitoring was conducted in 2017–18 via motion-triggered cameras, which enable 24-hour monitoring with minimal nest disturbance. Nest survival was defined by both hatch success and early chick success, defined as a chick surviving from hatching th...