visit Sooty Terns were at a breeding ebb and relatively few flocks were 
Dawn and dusk traveling flocks of Christmas and Wedge-tailed Shear 
.. ana Phoenix Petrels are much in evidence. A typical offshore pe 
centage count might be as follows (rough estimation): 
seen. 
waters 
v* — 
Percent 
Sooty/siender-bill Shearwater 1 
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 15 
Christmas Shearwater 6 
Phoenix Petrel 6 
Red-tailed Tropicbird 2 
Blue-faced Booby 2 
Brown Booby 1 
Rea-footed Booby 10 
Frigatebird 2 
Shorebird 1 
Common Noddy 3 
White-capped Noddy 2 
Blue-gray Noddy . 1 
White Tern ' 3 
Sooty Tern b5 
100 
ft 
Moderate-sized feeding flocks were present within five miles. Sooty 
Shearwaters were identified close to Christmas in much higher numbers 
found in the waters around other Line Islands to the north. Birds not 
corded off Christmas include Bulwer Petrel, White-throated Storm peurei 
and Crested Tern. 
than 
re- 
Jarvis Island 
2b & 28 March 
During the day Sooty Terns were almost absent around the island. A 
prebreeding swirl began arriving before dusk and ouilt up ^o ca . one-half 
million. The absence of offshore feeding of this bird is in greatly 
marked contrast to the superabundant feeding flocks found on tne previous 
visit (August i 960 ). Some facets of this are discussed in the Jarvis Is¬ 
land preliminary report. During the daytime the most conspicous elements 
offshore were flocks of Red-footed Boobies oeing harrassed very heavily ay 
Frigates. At dawn and dusk Blue-faced Boobies were present more commonly. 
Although the Red-tailed Tropicbird population was only beginning to build 
up, birds were seen fairly commonly offshore. 
Daytime i * 
Evening 
Rea-tailed. Tropicbird 
5 
1 
Blue-faced Booby 
20 
35 
\ 
Brown Booby 
5 
b 
Red-footed Booby 
50 
bo 
Frigatebird 
20 
20 
(Sooty Tern) 
<100 Birds ca. l/2 Million Birds 
* Estimates 
© 
