Yu & Chung (2024)

Pacific Seabird Group 2024 Regional Report – Hong Kong, China

Yat-tung Yu and John C.T. Chung, with the team of the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society, have continued banding Bridled Terns (Onychoprion anaethetus; BRTE) in Hong Kong for seven consecutive years as of 2023. In total, 447 Bridled Terns were banded from 2017 to 2023, and 381 field-readable leg flags were attached to their legs to study their migration. Additionally, with the support of the Swire Trust, ten Bridled Terns were fitted with GPS trackers in summer 2023 to study their home range and migration; GPS data was successfully gathered from eight individuals throughout the breeding season. Among these eight individuals, five were closely associated with the colony and utilized the proximate area within Mirs Bay. Conversely, the remaining three individuals, presumed to be immature and non-breeding, traversed the coastline of South China. The tracking study will be continued in the summer of 2024.