At 7:00 p.m., President Debbie Mullins called the meeting of the Society to order.
As we gathered online for an update on Great Gull Island by Dr. Margaret Rubega, President Debbie Mullins noted the fall is a time of great peril for migrating birds. A recent New York Times article reported that 961 birds were killed in one evening in one Chicago building because they were confused by the bright lights left on overnight. She informed the attendees that the New York City Council still needed to vote on the lights-out bill and encouraged everyone to contact their representatives. Additionally, President Mullins asked that members contact Governor Hochul’s office to encourage her to sign the Birds and Bees Protection Act.
President Mullins reminded all LSNY members to renew their annual membership online or by mailing in a check.
Motion 1: President Mullins then announced the result of the online vote to approve the September 2023 members’ meeting minutes. The vote passed with 125 votes in favor, one opposed, and two abstaining.
Motion 2: The Society welcomed the following eight new members, with 127 members voting in favor and one opposed.
Christina Dimmick, Active, sponsored by Mary Beth Kooper
Roth Wilkofsky, Supporting, sponsored by Linda Atkins
Julian Batista, Active, sponsored by Mary Beth Kooper
Sandra Beltrao, Active, sponsored by Ursula Mitra
Kristen Bancroft, Active, sponsored by Amanda Bielskas
Shannon Kelly, Active, sponsored by Michelle Zorzi
Susan Eby, Active, sponsored by Maggie Bradley
Jordana Mattioli, Active, sponsored by Eric Ozawa
At 7:10 p.m., President Mullins introduced the speaker, Dr. Margaret Rubega.
Dr. Margaret Rubega
Dr. Margaret Rubega is a Professor and Curator of Ornithology in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut and the Connecticut State Ornithologist. She first set foot on Great Gull Island in 1979, and the experience made her a biologist. She did her graduate work at the University of California, Irvine, on the feeding mechanics and ecology of phalaropes in the context of the legal battle of water rights at Mono Lake, California, and postdoctoral work on shorebird resilience to salinization of wetlands at the University of Nevada, Reno. She approaches avian conservation, ecology, and evolution questions mechanistically, integrating tools from functional morphology, biomechanics, physiology, and animal behavior. She has conducted research on shorebirds, seabirds, hummingbirds, swifts, and a variety of passerines in field sites in the Arctic, Antarctic, and North America. Her recent work on the conservation of terns at Great Gull Island brings her full circle.
Conservation Planning for the Future of Terns on Great Gull Island: What Next?
Dr. Rubega started the evening by recognizing her collaborators and supporters on the Great Gull Island project, including Joan Walsh of Mass Audubon and Peter Paton of the University of Rhode Island. She thanked Cindy Barreto and Jessica Espinosa, doctoral students in her lab. She also noted the hundreds of students and volunteers who have participated and contributed to the work at Great Gull Island over the last fifty years.
Most importantly, Dr. Rubega acknowledged the enormous debt of gratitude owed to Helen Hayes, director of Great Gull Island since 1969, and Joe DiCostanzo, architect of the data collection over the project’s lifespan. Their work resulted in over fifty years of vital data detailing the rebuilding of the tern colony and the ensuing effects of climate change on the population. Dr. Rubega credited the lives of over half of the Roseate terns living today directly to Helen’s vision and leadership. She also noted that Helen inspired the careers of many working on the island and in the field today. The net result is a tern colony of hemispheric importance.
Great Gull Island is a vital nesting location at the mouth of the Long Island Sound. It hosts the federally endangered Roseate tern and the Common tern, a species of greatest conservation need. These two species are interdependent and require year-round paired conservation actions to sustain their populations.
In 1897, the island was host to approximately 7000 pairs of terns before becoming a military base that destroyed the habitat and covered the shoreline and land in hardscape and buildings. In 1949, the American Museum of Natural History purchased the land to reestablish the habitat and encourage the tern colonies to return to the island. For more information about Great Gull Island, Dr. Rubega urged members to review the project’s history captured on the Linnaean Society website, where there is a wealth of additional information, including a detailed chronology of the project authored by Dale Dancis.
Today, Great Gull Island is North America’s second-largest Common tern colony and hosts the largest Roseate tern colony in the Western Hemisphere. There is no other colony like it, and these birds have very little redundancy, meaning if something happens to this colony, there are few other places to go. Additionally, climate change is an existential threat to the island, and steps are necessary to plan for a future with higher sea levels, changes in fish populations, and other potential challenges.
Dr. Rubega’s team is experimenting to develop a roadmap for the island’s future. The first objective is to digitize and secure the historical data collected by Joe DiCostanzo, making it available for further research and study. Another urgent need is to determine the best method to continue to monitor the terns while using fewer researchers on the island.
Since 1949, much of the land has been lost, and storm erosion will continue to increase, so the next priority is determining how much land will remain for another fifty years. Unfortunately, the island is not a good candidate for a living shoreline due to the extreme interventions implemented by the military.
A further question to explore is the changes in the food population due to increases in water temperature. The terns currently eat Atlantic silversides, small cold-water fish that grow no bigger than six inches in length. The team is studying the bird’s feces to determine what else they might be eating and to hypothesize how the tern’s diet might evolve.
Models predict that by 2100, only the parts of the island currently above three meters from where the shoreline now lies will remain above water. Climate change scientists are modeling the predicted change in water depth to determine where investments should be made to build new nest sites. Over the past few years, her team has been experimenting to identify the most productive nest boxes, locations for nets, and the best methods for chick banding.
Avian influenza is of great concern, as it has been rampant worldwide over the past two years. To date, Great Gull Island has escaped this threat, but the team is implementing strict measures toprevent an outbreak. Strict sanitation and bio-security measures require researchers to wear full-body suits on the island.
New measures to manage plants have produced encouraging results, including a program to remove invasive annuals and reseed native plants, providing an enhanced habitat for chicks to nest. An additional benefit is that the newly planted goldenrod offers food for migrating monarch butterflies, another endangered species the island supports.
The evening concluded with a fascinating Q&A session hosted by Vice President Douglas Futuyma. Delightfully, Helen Hays and Joe DiCostanzo joined the conversation to answer the intriguing questions posed by the audience. Dr. Rubega reminded the members that although it is now more difficult to volunteer than in past years, donations are always welcome and can be sent to the Great Gull Island fund at the American Museum of Natural History. At the close of the evening, The Linnaean Society expressed its appreciation to Dr. Rubega for sharing the plans for the future of Great Gull Island.