Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00677:reg:12:p8
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00677
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 12 (pt 8/33)
Character Range: 25246–28113

In Western Australia, 'clubs' are social roosts that are occupied by birds in breeding condition, have nuptial plumage, are courting and are ready to breed. Here pair bonds form or reform and these clubs are usually in close proximity to the breeding site.
   These areas are critical to the social ecology of the species. Terns in these pre-breeding flocks are typically engaged in bouts of aerial courtship 'social flights' and ground displays or parades at diurnal club sites (Cabot and Nisbet 2013). Pairs form or re-form in these flocks and paired courtship displays frequently follow bouts of group behaviour.

   In Western Australia, the timing of colony formation and egg-laying is likely dictated by food availability, with colonies forming close to areas of high food abundance (Dunlop 1987). Colonies may occur at the same general location for a series of seasons and then shift (Dunlop 2018). Some observations indicate that a 'neighbourhood' of
   breeding terns return to the breeding site used in the previous year during the 'clubbing' phase but may then move in a coordinated way to a fresh location (Dunlop 1987, Sooty Tern - J.N. Dunlop pers. obs.). This behavioural pattern may assist in maintaining pair bonds together with providing the opportunity to synchronise timely breeding with neighbours of similar age/experience or quality. Younger, less experienced terns tend
   to lag in their reproductive cycle, lay later outside the peak foraging window and, as a consequence, have reduced breeding success compared to more experienced pairs (Dunlop 2018).

             Male Australian Fairy Terns feed whole fish to their mates in a coition display that precedes copulation (Serventy et al. 1971). Other inshore feeding terns also carry fish crosswise in their bills to clubs as ornaments in group and paired displays, however in these species courtship feeding is not an obligate prelude to mating (Dunlop 2018).
             Males also feed their mates whilst they are incubating. It is likely that the ability of male terns to provision females is an important indicator of mate quality and increases breeding performance, as it does in the Common Tern (Nisbet 1973).

              Breeding
             In Australia, the subspecies breeds between June and March in colonies of various sizes (generally between 2–400 pairs but up to 700 pairs in Western Australia (Dunlop et
             al. 2015; Dunlop 2018). Colonies can be located on coral shingle on coastal islands, or coral cays, on sandy islands and beaches inside estuaries, and open sandy beaches, laying 1–2 eggs (rarely 3) in a nest scrape (Higgins and Davies 1996). They nest in clear view of the water and on sites where the substrate is either sandy or on shell-grit and the vegetation sparse. In Western Port Ramsar site, Victoria, birds use seagrass covered beaches to