Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00775:reg:4:p5
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00775
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 4 (pt 5/12)
Character Range: 21119–24052

in colonies often arises in types of birds that do not defend feeding territories; this may be a reason why it arises more frequently in seabirds (Schreiber and Burger 2002). There are other possible advantages: colonies may act as information centres, where seabirds returning to the sea to forage can find out where prey is by studying returning individuals of the same species. There are disadvantages to colonial life, particularly the spread of disease and ectoparasites. Colonies also attract the attention of predators, principally other birds, and many species attend their colonies nocturnally to avoid predation (Keitt et al. 2004).

 Migration

Like many birds, seabirds often migrate after the breeding season. Of these, the migration taken by the Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) is the farthest of any
 bird, crossing the equator in order to spend the Austral summer in Antarctica
 (Egevang et al. 2010; Fijim et al. 2013). Other species also undertake trans-equatorial trips, both from the north to the south, and from south to north. The Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea) undertakes an annual migration cycle that rivals that of the Arctic Tern; birds that nest in New Zealand and Chile spend the northern summer feeding in the North Pacific Ocean off Japan, Alaska and California, an annual round trip of 64,000 km (Shaffer et al. 2006).

Other species migrate shorter distances away from the breeding sites, their distribution at sea determined by the availability of food. If oceanic conditions are unsuitable, seabirds will immigrate to more productive areas, sometimes permanently if the bird is young (Oro et al. 2004). After fledging, juvenile birds often disperse further than adults, and to different areas, so are commonly sighted far from a species' normal range. Some species, such as some of the storm petrels, diving petrels and cormorants, rarely disperse at all, staying near their breeding colonies year-round.
Biologically important areas for seabirds in Australia
Australian Marine Parks (Commonwealth reserves proclaimed under the EPBC Act in 2007 and 2013) are located in Commonwealth waters that start at the outer edge of state and territory waters, generally three nautical miles (approximately 5.5 kilometres) from the shore, and extend to the outer boundary of Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), 200 nautical miles (approximately 370 kilometres) from the shore. These marine parks have been established for the protection and conservation of biodiversity and other natural, cultural and heritage values of the parks. They contain biologically important areas for a range of protected seabird species, and management of these parks can contribute to the protection of these species, or the ecological processes that support them.
8 Wildlife Conservation Plan for Seabirds
Seabirds of Australia

Biologically important areas (BIAs) are areas that are particularly important for the