Rare bird project underway on Managaha

Efforts are underway on Managaha Island to rehabilitate the nesting/breeding sites for the Wedgetail Shearwater birds so that both humans and these rare birds will feel at home on the beautiful island in the lagoon.

Trails are being rerouted, and signs posted to alert visitors to the beach nesting sites to be aware of and to protect these open-water seabirds.

This is a collaborative effort among the CNMI Fish & Wildlife Service, Northern Marianas College’s Natural Resources Management students, Coastal Resources Management Office, the environmental group TREES, and others interested in habitat rehabilitation.

The NMC students are said to be excited to actually experience a “hands-on” field laboratory for their wildlife studies and have made the habitat rehabilitation their class project for 2004-2005.

Wedgetail Shearwaters (Puffinus pacificus) are cousins to albatrosses and have a dark-brown or gray-brown top, with a white underside; their name comes from their distinctive wedge-shaped tail. Adult birds are large: about 16-18 inches long with a wingspan of over three feet. Wedgetails spend most of their time away from land, returning only to breed. The colony on Managaha was confirmed in 2000 and is the only known nesting site in the Northern Mariana Islands.

The birds nest underground along the beach area, and raise their young in burrows. Parents share shifts of guarding and incubating only one egg for about 60 days. After about three or four months of age, fledglings get their feathers, and are on their own to fly and feed. Because the Wedgetails burrow on the beach side of Managaha, protecting the nesting sites and the young birds requires closing of some of the existing beach trails, and establishing new trails that lead away from the nesting site.

“Please respect these new signs and stay on the new trails when visiting the island,” according to a statement from the group.

The birds are active at night and are in the burrows during the day, when most visitors are on island.

For more information regarding the Wedgetail Shearwater birds, contact the CNMI Fish & Wildlife office at 664-6000. For further information on the Natural Resources Management degree program, call NMC at 234-5498 ext. 1202.