SOME CENSUSES
of apparently occupied nests (i.e. an approximation to the apparent total breeding pairs) of North Atlantic sea-birds in some parts of their range (in a few cases, world census). Censuses of single colonies are not included unless these are of great importance.
Fulmar, c. 100,000 in Britain, including St. Kilda, in 1949 (and five-yearly estimates since eighteen-seventies; Fisher, 1952): c.350 in Norway in 1947 (P. Valeur, 1947): c. 200,000 in West Greenland (F. Salomonsen, 1950): c.200,000 on Bear I. in 1932 (Bertram and Lack, 1933): c.100,000 + at Cape Searle, Baffin I. in 1950 (V. C Wynne-Edwards, 1952).
North Atlantic (Cory’s) shearwater, c.20,000 on the Salvages, pertaining to Madeira, in 1939 (R. M. Lockley, 1952).
Great (Tristan great) shearwater, world population between 2 and 2½ million, all on Tristan da Cunha in 1949–50 (M. K. Rowan, 1952).
Cahow, world population all on Bermuda where 13 or 14 nests found and 1951 population “perhaps of the order of 100 adult birds, there may be fewer, but there are not likely to be more.” (Murphy and Mowbray, 1951).
Leach’s petrel, c.2,000 in Britain; this estimate contains a guess of 1,000 nests on St. Kilda in 1931 which is unreliable since not all the St. Kildan islands on which the species nests were visited (Atkinson and Ainslie, 1940): c.13,000 in Newfoundland in 1942–45 (Peters and Burleigh, 1951).
American white pelican, world population c.15,000 in 1932 (B. H. Thompson, 1932).
North Atlantic gannet, world population c.83,000 in 1939, of which c.70,000 in Iceland-Faeroes-Britain; in 1949 c.82,000 in Iceland-Faeroes-Britain (Fisher and Vevers, 1943–44, 1951). See here.
Double-crested cormorant, Population entire n.e. subspecies P. a. auritus, c.20,000 in ’twenties (H. F. Lewis, 1929); re-established on eastern seaboard U.S. c.1925 (E. H. Forbush, 1925, H. L. Mendall, 1936); c.900 in 1931 (Norton and Allen, 1931), over 10,000 in 1944 (A. O. Gross, 1944).
European cormorant, in Holland c.1,200 in 1926, c.2,600 in 1934, c.4,000 in 1937, 4,622 (peak) in 1940, 4,359 in 1941 (van Ijzendoorn, 1950); in Belgium 30 in 1950 (R. Verheyen, 1951); in North America 1,086 in 1940 (H. F. Lewis, 1941).
Great skua, just over 100 in the Faeroes in 1942, c.200 in 1946 (K. Williamson, 1945b, 1948, L. Ferdinand, 1947); c.1,000 in Great Britain (all Shetland and Orkney) around 1946 (R. Perry, 1948, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds watchers and other sources).
Ring-billed gull, c.1,750 in Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1940 (H. F. Lewis, 1941b.).
Common gull, c.500,000 in Denmark in 1939 (P. Géroudet, 1946); 20,221 in Germany in 1939 (Schulz, 1947); c.250 in Holland in 1949 (van Ijzendoorn, 1950); a few occasionally on the Belgian border (Verheyen, 1951); c.30 in England in 1941.
Herring-gull, c.27,500 in Holland in 1938 (van Ijzendoorn, 1950); 28,569 on North Sea coast of Germany in 1939 (Schulz, 1947); under 9,000 in Maine in c.1900, c.16,500 in 1921, c.25,000 in 1931 (Norton in Palmer, 1949).
Lesser blackback, 1 in Germany 1927–28, c.6 in 1938–47 (Schulz, 1947); colonised Holland since 1926, not more than 50 (van Ijzendoorn).
Great blackback, c.1,100 in England and Wales in 1930 (Harrisson and Hurrell, 1933); c.20 in Denmark in 1941 (F. Salomonsen, 1943); 16 on Bear Island in 1948 (Duffey and Sergeant, 1950); 3 in United States in 1928, at least 1,250 in 1944 (A. O. Gross, 1945).
Laughing gull, c.25 in Maine in 1860–70, 1, 2, 3 or 4 from c.1884 to c.1918, c.150 in 1931, 1936, c.250 in 1937–38, c.300 in 1940, c.50 in 1941, none since. (Palmer, 1949); in Western U.S. 2 in 1928 (Miller and van Rossem, 1929).
Black-headed gull, 35,000 in England and Wales in 1938 (P. A. D. Hollom, 1940, S. Marchant, 1952).
Little gull, 15 in Holland in 1942, 18 in 1943, 13 in 1944, 1 or 2 in 1945, c.8 in 1949 (van Ijzendoorn).
Kittiwake, 6,000 to 8,000 in England in late 1940’s (J. Fisher, from literature and notes); 11 in Denmark in 1941, 15 in 1942, 124 in 1946 (Salomonsen, 1941, Løppenthin, 1948); 1–3 in Germany in 1938–39 (R. Drost, 1939); 24,400 in Newfoundland in 1941–45 (Peters and Burleigh); probably c.10,000 in Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1940 (H. F. Lewis, 1941b and others).
Black tern, 8 in Britain in 1941, 5 in 1942 (R. Cooke, 1946); none in other recent years.
Whiskered tern, 8 in Holland in 1938, 9 in 1945 (invasions; van Ijzendoorn).
White-winged black tern, 1 in Belgium in 1937 (R. Verheyen, 1951).
Gull-billed tern, 1 in Holland in 1931, 1 in 1944, 2 in 1945, 3 in 1949 (van Ijzendoorn).
Caspian tern, 300 in Germany in 1819, 25 in 1874, none since 1918; 7 in California in 1922, 296 in 1930, 378 in 1943 (A. H. Miller, 1943); c.200 in Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1884 (M. A. Frazar, 1887), 30–55 between 1925 and 1940 (H. F. Lewis, 1941b.), 45 in 1945 (O. H. Hewitt, 1950).
Common tern, c.4,450 in Maine in 1931–36 (Palmer, 1949); c.15,000 in Cape Cod region of Massachusetts in 1930–44 (O. L. Austin, 1946) ; 15,000–16,000 in Germany in 1939 (Schulz); c.19,000 in ‘de Beer’ sanctuary, Hook of Holland, in 1939 (van Ijzendoorn); doubtful whether in any year in the present century more than 7000 in England and Wales, and likely that over half of these have been in Norfolk (J. Fisher from literature and notes).
Arctic tern, c.5,970 in Maine in 1931–36 (Palmer); c.4,700 in Germany in 1939 (Schulz); probably under 200 in Holland (van Ijzendoorn); doubtful whether in any year more than 3,000 in England and Wales, and likely that over half of these have been in the Farne Islands (J.F.).
Roseate tern, c.276 in Maine in 1931–36 (Palmer); 1 or 2 in Germany in most years since 1904 (Schulz); 2 in the south of France in 1951 (R. M. Lockley); over 1,000 in the British Isles in recent years, about a third of which are in Anglesey and about half of which are in Ireland (J.F.)
Sooty tern, in Pacific c.166,950 on Laysan Island (Dill & Bryan, 1912); in Indian Ocean over 25,000 in 1937 on Goelette, c.65,000 on Bird Island (Seychelles), c.5 million in 1931 and at least ¼ million in 1937 on Desnoeufs (D. Vesey-Fitzgerald, 1941); in U.S.A. (breeds Dry Tortugas only) c.7000 in 1903, 9,000 in 1907, 10,000 in 1908, 9,000 in 1917, 15,000 in 1935, 20,000 in 1936, 50,000 in 1937, 32,029 in 1938, 35,000 in 1939, c.50,000 in 1940, over 50,000 in 1941, 32,500 in 1942, 54,500 in 1945, 48,600 in 1946, 32,135 in 1947 (P. Bartsch, 1919; A. Sprunt, 1948).
Sandwich tern, c.40,000 in Holland in 1940 (van Ijzendoorn, 1950); this perhaps four-fifths of whole population of north-west Europe; other occupied countries, all with very fluctuating numbers, Sweden (200–300 nests in early ’forties), Germany (3,957 in 1940), Denmark (unknown number), the British Isles (fluctuating between two and five thousand nests, and about 3,500 in early ’forties, J. F. from literature and notes), and Danzig, Brittany and Portugal (a few each).
Noddy, in U.S.A. 200 in 1903, 2,000 in 1907, 700 in 1908, 2,000 in 1917; 1,500 in 1935, 2,000 in 1936, 1,000 in 1937, 206 in 1938, 125 in 1939, 90 in 1940, 500 in 1941, 225 in 1942, 375 in 1945, 275 in 1946, 125 in 1947 (as sooty tern).
Little auk, in Iceland, now breeds Grimsey only, where c.50 in 1820, 150–200 in 1903, c.20 birds in