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Rare tern birds face deadly rat threat on Matsu

A Chinese Crested Tern is pictured in flight in this undated photo. PHOTO COURTESY OF LIAO PEN-HSING

The Year of the Rat may have started off in a bad way for Chinese Crested Terns, protected rare birds found on Matsu Island (馬祖), as they may face extinction because of a rat epidemic.

But international birding associations are working together to combat the invasion to preserve these precious feathered creatures, the Taiwan Sustainable Ecology Society (TSES) said yesterday.

"There have been reports that the rare birds face total elimination because of a rat invasion," Tien Chiu-Chin (田秋堇), TSES chairwoman told the Taipei Times. "Since the Chinese Crested Tern is only known to breed on Matsu, when international birding societies were informed that rats were attacking the bird's habitat and eating their eggs during breeding season, they were extremely alarmed."

Like gulls, terns are a type of seabird, although they are more slender and streamlined in physique, with sharp narrow bills and long narrow wings, Tien said.

Adult Chinese Crested Terns, also known as Matsu Terns, reach a body size of about 36cm and sport orange-yellow bills and a black crown, Tien said.

In the Matsu Tern Reserve, eight rare species of seabirds are protected, including Bridled Terns, Roseate Terns, Black-napped Terns, Greater Crested Terns, Black-tailed Gulls, Eastern Reef Herons, Fork-tail Swifts and Chinese Crested Terns, she said.

"For the past four or five months, international experts from the US, Japan and elsewhere who have experience in rat extermination have been working together to help save the birds, as there are only a few hundred left in the world," she said.

The budget for such extermination is about NT$1 million, she said, adding that the money would come from the Council of Agriculture.

The effort would need to be completed before April, as the breeding season for terns is between April and September, she said.

The rats were possibly brought to the islets when fishermen anchored their boats to fish in the area, Tien said, adding that the society had demanded that local fishing councils prohibit fishermen from doing so.
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