THE BREEDING BIOLOGY AND ASPECTS OF THE FEEDING ECOLOGY OF BROWN NODDIES ANOUS-STOLIDUS NESTING NEAR CULEBRA, PUERTO-RICO, 1985-1989

We have studied brown noddies Anous stolidus breeding on Cayo Noroeste in the Culebra National Wildlife Refuge for the past five years (1985-1989). Daily visits during our residence there each year permitted collection of precise data on arrival chronology, egg-laying and incubation patterns, egg morphometrics, chick growth rates, food delivered to chicks and breeding success. Over 150 adults are now individually colour-banded, and each annual chick cohort has been uniquely marked. Some features of the breeding biology of Culebran brown noddies were similar to those reported for pairs at Atlantic and Pacific Ocean colonies; these included duration of egg development, mass of newly hatched chicks, chick growth rates and fledging periods. Other features appear unique to Culebra. These include a tightly synchronous arrival (range of first egg dates: 29 April - 4 May) and short egg-laying period (about six weeks), a consistently high breeding success each year (average 84% hatching success, 88% chicks fledged from eggs hatched, 0.79 chicks fledged per pair), and an unusually narrow range of food items (two fish species) taken by adults for their own needs and those of chicks. Observations of the direction taken by adults departing the colony suggest a predictable and productive foraging area along a prominent east-west shelf-break located c. 20 km to the north. We conclude that during these five years, brown noddies on Cayo Noroeste were not limited by food during the breeding season.