Seabird Working Group

Over 150 seabird species inhabit the EAAF, some of which have long trans-equatorial migration routes while others move at a smaller regional scale. Although some species have very large populations, many species are declining or are facing a high risk of extinction due to several ongoing threats at their breeding and wintering sites. To achieve positive conservation outcomes, a joint and equal responsibility for the conservation of seabirds is urgently required across the region. Unfortunately, conservation, management, education, and research activities for seabirds in the EAAF have lacked coordination in terms of objectives, field methods, reporting and information exchange.

The EAAFP Seabird Working Group (WG) was established in 2007 to assist in the coordination of conservation activities across the flyway through promoting, facilitating, coordinating and harmonizing seabird conservation, education, and research activities across the EAAF. The WG cooperates with all Partners, scientists, and land managers interested in seabird conservation and helps to improve communication among these groups.


Taxonomic groups that occur in the Flyway include:

GaviidaeDivers (Loons)
DiomedeidaeAlbatross
ProcellariidaeShearwaters/Petrels
OceanitidaeStorm-Petrels
PhaethontidaeTropicbirds
FregatidaeFrigatebirds
PelecanidaePelicans
SulidaeGannets/Boobies
PhalacrocoracidaeCormorants
LaridaeGulls/Tern/Skimmers
StercorariidaeSkuas
AlcidaeAuks


Key elements of the 2015-2016 work plan include to:
  • Update the WGs Prioritization Process before MOP9;
  • Coordinate input into the ‘Global Seabird Colony Registry’;
  • Develop a Tern conservation plan;
  • Coordinate information update on the Aleutian Terns in Russia;
  • Encourage the nomination of sites to the EAAFP Flyway Site Network;
  • Support a meeting with seabird experts, conservationists and policymakers from the EAAF.


Working Group Chair

Thumbnail of a cormorantRobb Kaler
US Fish & Wildlife Service, Migratory Bird Management,
1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, Alaska, 99503 USA
Tel: +907 786 3984 Fax: +907 786 3641
E-mail: robert_kaler@fws.gov

Bio: Robb received his MSc degree at Kansas State University, USA in 2007 where he studied the population demography of reintroduced island ptarmigan in the western Aleutian Islands, Alaska. He joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2010 and serves as the Alaska Region Seabird Data Coordinator. Robb is the Alaska/Russia Representative on the Executive Committee of the Pacific Seabird Group and is a member of the World Seabird Union’s Development Team responsible for the Global Seabird Colony Register.

Working Group Coordinators

Yat-tung Yu
The Hong Kong Bird Watching Society,
7C, V Ga Building, 532 Castle Peak Road,
Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2377 4387 Fax: +852 2314 3687
E-mail: bfspoonbill@hkbws.org.hk

Bio: Yat-tung has long been fascinated by seabirds in his birdwatching experience. He is a founding member of the Tern Research Group of the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society, which is responsible to regular surveys of breeding tern colonies in Hong Kong. Yat-tung also collects information of seabirds in the coastal areas of China and promotes seabird monitoring activities. Yat-tung is currently a team member of the recovery programme of the critically endangered Chinese Crested Tern coordinated by BirdLife International, aiming to restore breeding habitats for this species and other breeding terns.

Related News and publications
Working Group Collaboration
Year of the Terns

To raise awareness among EAAFP Partners, researchers, conservationists, and the general public, while promoting the exchange of information and collaboration on seabird species in the EAA Flyway, the EAAFP and the Seabird Working Group initiated the Year of the Terns in 2022To raise awareness among EAAFP Partners, researchers, conservationists, and the general public, while promoting the exchange of information and collaboration on seabird species in the EAA Flyway, the EAAFP and the Seabird Working Group initiated the Year of the Terns in 2022.