A leading Bermudian wildlife expert told last night how he was carrying out a mammoth study into the habits of the Island's endemic Longtail in order to shed some light on the population growth and its existence.

Patrick Talbot, a researcher at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, said with the Cahow's number's gaining after once being thought extinct, he was hoping the famed Bermuda Longtail could share in some of the spotlight.

At the Bermuda Audubon Society annual general meeting last night, Mr. Talbot told the members about his findings so far, but said he was hoping to continue it for the next three years.

In his lecture entitled “A Breeding Success Survey of a Population of White-Tailed Tropic Birds in Castle Harbour”, Mr. Talbot he was doing a comparative study of he birds and their breeding habits.

He told how the breeding research was started by environmentalist Dr. David Wingate in 1970, who continued it until 1983. Mr. Talbot said he saw it as a perfect opportunity to step in and continue the good work.

Of the nine Islands that he has studied, the researcher said he found 320 nests, which he checked monthly.

“Bermuda has the largest breeding population in the world,” of the White Tailed Tropic Bird, said Mr. Talbot.

“They tend to leave around October, and return around April. They lay one egg, which takes up to 42 days to incubate and takes the birds 60 days to fledge. They often come back at the end of Cahow nesting season.”

However, he said he could not be certain how long the Longtails remained away from the Island - some could leave for years. And the researcher said not did he know where they went.

But he said he did know that they left in autumn and those that did return chose to in spring. And he said those Longtails born on the Island would return every year, whereas those hatched overseas may not.

Mr. Talbot told the Audubon members that the chicks often weighed between 400 and 450 grams when they were born, but when it was time for them to leave the nest, the chicks often weighed almost double that.

The researcher said he had found 11 Longtail nests on Castle Island, 32 at Charles Island, seven on Green Island, 40 at Horn Island, 15 at Inner Pear Island, 15 at Inner Pear Outer Island, 13 at Long Rock Island, and 33 at Nonsuch Island.

However, of all of the Island's studied in the Castle Harbour area, Southampton Island had the most nests with 62.

But Mr. Talbot said while these findings may have seemed encouraging, there was still some factors that could affect the breeding process of the Longtails.

These factors included natural destruction due to storm damage, nest washout, nest predators, and nest competitors, where birds fight over a nest.

As a result, the Longtails were constantly having to change their nesting locations.

As for the migration of the birds, Mr. Talbot said he had no idea where they went to once they left Bermuda.

But he gave one theory that they travel down to the Sargasso Sea, where they may fly around and live off the sea until they make their return journey to a warmer Bermuda.