RFI: egg predator advice – small terns

A request for list members familiar with small tern eggs damaged and/or eaten by predators. I have photos of Fairy Tern egg shells taken at an apparently recently failed breeding colony off French Island Victoria. As a member of the Friends of French Island National Park we monitor this threatened species breeding in Western Port. The egg shell remnants appear to have been pierced by a beak (?) of a predator of some sort. We are aware that Barn Owls and possibly feral cats visit the breeding area at times but are unsure of whether ravens may also be a problem. Silver Gulls also visit the area occasionally. Some of the holes in the egg shell remnants are too small to be either gull or raven .. Would those people familiar with egg damage contact me directly so I can pass on the images for their thoughts? cheers, Martin Martin O’Brien Wildlife Biologist, Catchment Governance & Legislation Department of Environment & Primary Industries 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne VIC 3002 Notice: This email and any attachments may contain information that is personal, confidential, legally privileged and/or copyright. No part of it should be reproduced, adapted or communicated without the prior written consent of the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the recipient to check for and remove viruses. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by return email, delete it from your system and destroy any copies. You are not authorised to use, communicate or rely on the information contained in this email. Please consider the environment before printing this email. _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org