Petit Manan Island. Credit: USFWS

Petit Manan is a 16 acre island located approximately three miles south of Petit Manan Point in Steuben. This island historically was one of the most important colonial seabird nesting islands in the Gulf of Maine. The Service acquired this historic lighthouse station from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) in 1974. Significant numbers of terns had nested on the island, including 1,500 pairs observed in 1971. However, when automation of the light station in 1972 eliminated the need for human presence on the island the numbers of nesting gulls gradually increased. By 1983 terns no longer nested on the island. The Service initiated gull control in 1984. Terns returned to the island within one week of the DRC 1339 application. MDIFW-administered Green Island is connected to Petit Manan by a cobble bar. For much of the past 20 years MDIFW and the Service have managed the two islands as a single unit. The Service continued varying levels of gull control (i.e., poisoning) on Petit Manan and Green Islands between 1984 and1990.

Puffin on Petit Manan Island. Credit: USFWS

In 2007 the island supported 1,343 pairs of common terns, 1,038 pairs of Arctic terns, five pairs of roseate terns, 55 pairs of puffins, and 1,350 pairs of lLaughing gulls. The 2007 tern census results were similar to those we recorded in 2006, which represented an all-time high in the number of terns. Compared to 2006, the number of roseate terns breeding on Petit Manan declined by 80 percent. Throughout the summer, peregrine falcons caused considerable disturbance to the Petit Manan colony, and this may have contributed to the decline in roseate terns.

Much of the puffin breeding habitat on Petit Manan was adversely affected by a major storm that hit the coast in mid April. Many of the puffins’ burrows were destroyed. As a result, the Petit Manan puffin colony decreased from 66 burrows in 2006 to 55 burrows in 2007. The number of common murre and razorbill visiting the island has been increasing each season. In 2006, we documented a record high 179 razorbills visiting Petit Manan Island in early June. Razorbills recently began breeding on Petit Manan, but have had limited reproductive success. One pair of razorbills nested on Petit Manan in 2007, but failed to raise a chick. Leach’s storm-petrels, black guillemots, and common eiders also nest on the island. Researchers and students from the College of the Atlantic conducted research and monitored the colony on Petit Manan Island between 1984 and 1998. In 1999, the Service assumed full management authority on the island.

Arctic and Common Tern Recovery
At Petit Manan Island: 1983-2007

Roseate Tern Recovery on Petit Manan Island
Compared to Coast of Maine: 1987-2007

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