Creating a floating nest platform resilient to habitat disturbances and sustainable for years to come

Black Tern Nesting Platform Design

While throughout most of the world the black tern isn’t a species at risk, nesting sites in the US Great Lakes region have been subjected to a variety of negative impacts. This has resulted in a population decrease by as much as 99 percent in the region.

The leading cause of the decline has been identified as nest failure, often associated with extreme fluctuations in water level and human disturbance. Hoping to find a solution and reverse the decline in the local black tern population, the National Audubon Society (Audubon) turned to us for help in creating a floating nest platform that would be resilient to these disturbances and sustainable for years to come.

We designed a unique floating platform based on a prototype developed by one of our team members nearly 20 years ago. We customized the previous design to address several specific risks associated with the Audubon’s planned deployment sites in Michigan. These sites are on the north shore of Lake St. Clair, located between Lakes Erie and Lake Huron, and on Wigwam Bay, along the north shore of Saginaw Bay within Lake Huron.

Deployment of the nesting platforms will begin in 2025, with local Audubon members monitoring their use throughout the spring and summer months each year following.