Three Decades of Burrow Estimates for Wedge-tailed Shearwaters on the Capricorn Group

Abstract

Previous estimates of the population sizes of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters Puffinus pacificus in the Capricorn Group paid little attention to methodology and standardisation of data. Rationalisation of earlier data, to better meet the requirements for comparability, now lead to interpretations that dispute previous assessments based on 'face value' acceptance of the literature. The number of shearwater burrows on Heron Island may have been relatively stable over the past three decades, whereas previous interpretations indicated a dramatic increase in the population in the early 1980s. However, there has been an increase in the number of burrows on North West Island and an apparent overall decrease on Masthead Island.