The Yamashina Institute for Ornithology was established in 1942.  It consists of a Division of Natural History, a Division of Avian Conservation (Bird Migration Research Center) and an Administration Bureau.  The institute's collection now includes 69 000 specimens and a 39 000-piece library.  The institute conducts ornithological studies and research, as well as bird banding commissioned by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment.  The Yamashina Institute promotes public awareness of ornithology by publishing academic journals featuring research articles, and newsletters introducing research activities in an easy-to-understand format.

Dr. Kiyoaki Ozaki has been the Yamashina Institute’s Deputy Director General since 2010 and is a Senior Researcher.  He has long worked on Japan's albatross projects, both on Torishima and Mukojima in the Ogasawara Islands, notably on the globally Vulnerable Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus.

Dr. Kiyoaki Ozaki with two Short-tailed Albatross decoys

Dr Ozaki writes to ACAP Latest News: “The Short-tailed Albatross was once on the brink of extinction with less than 100 individuals but has now increased to over 5000 thanks to persistent international conservation efforts.  However, there are many more albatross species in need of conservation action.  World Albatross Day 2020 is an excellent opportunity to remind us of their needs, and that we can still save these magnificent birds”.

The Yamashina Institute’s support for ‘WAD2020’ has been further demonstrated by photographing World Albatross Day banners with breeding albatrosses on both Mukojima and Torishima for ACAP Latest News in the last month.

Short-tailed Albatrosses by ABUN artist Lucimara Wesolowicz‎, from a photograph by Laurie Smaglick Johnson

With thanks to Teru Yuta, Division of Avian Conservation, Yamashina Institute for Ornithology.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 13 April 2020

Light-mantled Albatross pair on Adams Island, Auckland Islands by ABUN artist Shary Page Weckwerth,‎ from a photograph by Colin O'Donnell

Kalinka Rexer-Huber (Parker Conservation, Dunedin, New Zealand) and colleagues have published in the journal Notornis on efficacy of different counting methods for Light-mantled Albatrosses Phoebetria palpebrata on New Zealand sub-Antarctic islands,

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Population sizes of light-mantled sooty albatross (Phoebetria palpebrata, LMSA) at the three New Zealand breeding sites (Auckland, Antipodes, and Campbell Islands) are poorly known.  Annual counts since 1999 of a small number of LMSA nests show a long-term population decline on Adams Island, Auckland Islands.  Mean nest numbers in 2016-17 were 10% down on counts in 1999–2000, with an annual rate of decrease, lambda, of 0.44 in the period 1999–2019.  Three methods to estimate the breeding population size were trialled: ground counts of nests (Adams); aerial photography of LMSA with ground-truthing (Adams); and boat-based counts of LMSA on coastal cliffs (Campbell).  Ground counts in a clearly delimited area were repeatable (42 and 40 active nests in 2017 and 2018, respectively), thus useful for monitoring, but ground counts are too limited for a whole-island population estimate.  Aerial photography overestimated the number of active nests by 12.5% compared with ground counts.  Ground-truthing showed that most apparently occupied nests contained an egg, and so nests occupied by birds with no egg are a smaller error source when interpreting aerial photographs than for other albatrosses.  Boat-based LMSA counts proved inaccurate due to vessel movement.  Considering that the terrain favoured by LMSA is very difficult to access, population size estimates based on aerial photography with ground calibration for apparent breeders appear the most effective of the techniques trialled.  Ongoing counts at vantage-point and ground-count sites enable continued monitoring of LMSA trends at Adams Island.”

This publication forms part of a compilation of 19 papers appearing in a special issue of the journal Notornis of Birds New Zealand that covers many aspects of the avifauna of the Auckland Islands. The special issue is also being made available as a 436-page book with the title Lost Gold: Ornithology of the subantarctic Auckland Islands.  Edited by Colin Miskelly and Craig Symes, it can be ordered for purchase (click here).  An interview with the two editors gives information about their work with the book. Click here to access abstracts for all 19 papers.

Reference:

Rexer-Huber, K., Walker, K.J., Elliott, G.P., Baker, G.B., Debski, I., Jensz, K., Sagar, P.M., Thompson, D.R. & Parker, G.C. 2020.  Population trends of light-mantled sooty albatross (Phoebetria palpebrata) at Adams Island and trial of ground, boat, and aerial methods for population estimates.  Notornis 67: 341-355.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 12 April 2020

White-capped Albatross by ABUN wildlife artist Shary Page Weckwerth‎ from a photograph by Laurie Smaglick Johnson

Alan Tennyson (Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand) has published in the journal Notornis on variation in bill colour in the White-capped Albatross Thalassarche steadi.

The paper’s abstract follows:

"The white-capped mollymawk (Thalassarche cauta steadi) and Tasmanian mollymawk (T. cauta cauta) have discreet breeding sites, but away from their breeding grounds, where their at-sea ranges overlap, they are difficult to identify.  The bill colour of these taxa has recently been considered to differ, but there is much conflicting information in published accounts.  Three key differences often discussed are the amount of yellow on the culminicorn, the amount of yellow on the cutting edge to the upper mandible, and the amount of darkness on the mandibular unguis.  In January 2018 I assessed these characters in 100 adult white-capped mollymawks at their Disappointment Island breeding site and found that each character was variably present.  The majority of white-capped mollymawks lacked a yellow base to their culminicorn and had a dark mark on their mandibular unguis. In contrast, it has been reported that the majority of adult Tasmanian mollymawks have yellow at the base of their culminicorn and lack a dark mark on their mandibular unguis. While these characters can be used as a guide to identify these taxa, a minority of individuals of each taxon show the ‘typical’ bill colours of the other taxon.  The amount of yellow on the cutting edge to the upper mandible varied between individual white-capped mollymawks, and so this is not a useful identification character."

This publication forms part of a compilation of 19 papers appearing in a special issue of the journal Notornis of Birds New Zealand that covers many aspects of the avifauna of the Auckland Islands. The special issue is also being made available as a 436-page book with the title Lost Gold: Ornithology of the subantarctic Auckland Islands.  Edited by Colin Miskelly and Craig Symes, it can be ordered for purchase (click here).  An interview with the two editors gives information about their work with the book.  Click here to access abstracts for all 19 papers.

Reference:

Tennyson, A.J.D. 2020.   Variation in the bill colour of the white-capped mollymawk (Thalassarche cauta steadi). Notornis 67: 333-340.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 11 April 2020

Book review:  Molly and the Monsters of Gough Island.  Written and published for children by Kate Lawrence.  2019.  Illustrations and photographs by Jaimie Cleeland and Kate Lawrence.  Hard cover and in full colour, 20×25 cm, 30 pp.

This book is about an albatross named Molly.  She lives on an island called Gough.  It starts with her as a chick.  Then her dad tells her about the monsters that eat the chicks.  These are the mice which arrived a long time ago.  Molly fears the mice, but she overcomes this and grows up.  The story goes on about how she fledges and discovers the thrill of flying.  In five years she will return and she hopes that by then the monster mice are gone and she can have chicks of her own.

There is more information after the story that talks about where Gough Island is.  Included is information on the deaths of albatross chicks and the research that the author did with Jaimie Cleeland during the 13 months she spent on the island in 2017/18.

I found the pictures very pretty and informative.  The style of writing is very good and the story had a nice flow to it; it is a page turner.  It is also very educational.  So overall I liked the book very much.

Kate Lawrence records the co-ordinates of a Critically Endangered Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena on its nest on Gough Island

Alen Angel Wanless, Cape Town, South Africa, 10 April 2020

Editorial Notes:

 Alen Angel Wanless is the teenage son of Andrea Angel, Albatross Task Force Leader, BirdLife South Africa.  Andrea spent a year conducting seabird research on Gough Island over 2003/04, including working with the globally Endangered Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos, the species to which Molly belongs, as did Kate Lawrence and Jaimie Cleeland 14 years later.

Prior to her year on Gough Island Kate Lawrence worked with albatrosses as a Field Biologist on Austrealia's sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island over 2013/14 and 2014/15.  She has written to ACAP Latest News: " 'I have been showing the baby to everyone and asking what they think it is and they always say a penguin!' was one response I got when I sent a photo of a Light-mantled Albatross chick, alone and alert on its nest on Macquarie Island, to family and friends. It reinforced to me how privileged I was to be working with such amazing creatures, species that many people do not get the chance to encounter in their lifetime.  World Albatross Day is an opportunity and a reminder to share our experiences far and wide, to highlight the conservation needs of these majestic birds and to spread the albatross love!”