Restoring Nesting Habitat for Common Terns at the Niagara Project

摘要

Restoration efforts for the common tern, implemented as a result of the New York Power Authority's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing of its Niagara Power Project, are the largest and most successful of their kind in the Great Lakes and northeast U.S. The common tern is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. With almost 1,900 nests in the spring 2011 peak nesting count - compared with fewer than 500 before the project began a few short years ago - increasing numbers of nests and improving tern chick survival are among the benchmarks for this success. The unlikely, yet simple, combination of historic nautical structures with industrial materials such as gravel and fencing have created a safe, comfortable and popular haven for the common tern to thrive.