Occurrence of seabirds in the Babitonga Bay estuary on the North coast Santa Catarina, southern Brazil

Occurrence of seabirds in the Babitonga Bay estuary on the North coast Santa Catarina, southern Brazil. The Babitonga Bay harbors the largest mangrove area of the State of Santa Catarina, where abundant feeding resources are available for a diversified fauna. The avifauna in this area is still poorly known, and the objective of this work was to record the occurrence of seabirds in this estuary. Between May 2007 and April 2008 monthly samplings were carried out in three regions of the estuary using a motorboat, namely 'Linguado', 'Palmital' and 'Praias'. At least six species were recorded: Kelp Gull Larus dominicanus, Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens, Brown Booby Sula leucogaster, Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis, Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus and an unidentified skua Stercorarius spp. Larus dominicanus was the most abundant specie, followed by Thalasseus sandvicensis. The 'Linguado' region showed the highest number of individuals. Seasonal fluctuations were observed; the fall showed the highest abundance and the winter the lowest. The estuary is used as feeding and resting area for the sea birds.