New frigate bird survey ends on Aldabra By Roland Duval,
Seychelles Island Foundation, 17/02/11 A new frigatebird survey
has been launched by SIF staff on Aldabra, which has the second
largest frigatebird colony in the world and the largest in the
Indian Ocean. The survey in January and February was the fourth
official census to be carried out on the atoll, following
surveys by Diamond in 1967-68, Reville in 1976-77 and Burger and
Betts in 2000. According to Reville (1983), there were
approximately 4000 breeding pairs of greater frigatebird and
6000 pairs of lesser frigatebird on the atoll. Numbers from the
earlier surveys did not differ substantially but the species’
distribution around the atoll has changed over time. The biggest
colony in the 1960s was at Middle Camp, while Camp Fregate
hosted the largest colony in the 1970s. There also used to be a
large colony at Passe Gionnet; however, now there are only a few
birds nesting there. Last year the birds were recorded breeding
at Grande Poche on Picard for