A Northern Giant Petrel broods its downy chick on Marion Island

NOTE:  This post continues an occasional series that features photographs of the 31 ACAP-listed species, along with information from and about their photographers.  Here, Janine Schoombie features the Northern Giant Petrel Macronectes halli, (globally Least Concern but considered regionally Near Threatened) which she has studied on Marion Island.

Armed with nest stakes and under research permit, Janine Schoombie approaches a curious Northern Giant Petrel on its rock-protected nest

When I started studying aeronautical engineering, I never imagined that I would find myself on Marion Island, working with seabirds. After completing an MSc, I was very fortunate to join the M72 Overwintering Team to Marion Island in 2015.  Working for the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town as a research assistant I was tasked with monitoring the breeding success of four albatross and several petrel species, among them the Northern Giant Petrel.  I definitely did not consider myself a photographer (and still do not), but if you are on Marion Island and you have a camera you are bound to become obsessed with capturing all the spectacular sites and bird activity.

Giving the photographer the eye.  Iris colour in giant petrels can vary from near white to dark brown

From day one on the island I was fascinated by the Northern Giant Petrel.  Even outside their breeding season, there are always a couple flying around the research base.  When they glide past they often throw their heads back and call, which makes them look like winged horses, and their call is quite eerie and prehistoric.  They also have incredible eyes that look like cracks in the surface of some icy planet, which I could never capture properly with my camera.  I love their displays when they feed or defend their territories even though they can make quite a mess when they feed, which is probably not everyone’s favourite sight.

An incubating Northern Giant Petrel in a Marion monitoring colony reveals its J10 colour band that allows identification without further handling

You’re not super fit yet by the time the Northern Giant Petrels come back to the island to breed in August, and this is when the real snow starts on Marion as well.  So it was very hard work for me to set up the monitoring colonies, but they are such lovely birds to work with and it was quite exciting to go exploring for their nests in the snow.  There are three monitoring colonies near the research base and towards the end of laying, we do a round-island count which is basically a four-day Easter egg hunt. And that’s how you get island-fit!  Of all the island experiences I had, working on the Northern Giant Petrel monitoring are still some of my fondest memories of working on Marion and these huge petrels will always have a very special place in my heart.

Messy habits?  A bloody-faced Northern Giant Petrel on a Marion Island rocky beach
Photographs by Janine Schoombie

Since being a member of the M72 Overwintering Team I have made it my mission to insert myself into the polar science community and I was again fortunate to join the M76 Overwintering Team of 2019/20.  This time I started working on a South African National Antarctic (SANAP) project entitled “Modelling wind patterns and their ecological impacts on sub-Antarctic Marion Island”, towards my PhD at the University of Pretoria.  The project looks at the effects of wind on terrestrial ecology, combining my love for engineering and Marion Island.  Even though my focus is currently on how albatrosses interact with wind, I hope to extend my work to Northern Giant Petrels and to other seabirds in the future.

Janine Schoombie carefully approaches a Northern Giant Petrel to place a plastic ‘alphanumeric’ colour band on its leg for identification purposes

Selected Publications:

Dilley, B.J., Davies, D., Stevens, K., Schoombie, S., Schoombie, J. & Ryan, P.G. 2019.  Burrow wars and sinister behaviour among burrow-nesting petrels at sub-Antarctic Marion Island.  Ardea 107: 97-102.  [click here].

Dilley, B.J., Schoombie, S., Schoombie, J. & Ryan, P.G. 2016.  ‘Scalping’ of albatross fledglings by introduced mice spreads rapidly at Marion Island.  Antarctic Science 28: 73-80.  [click here].

Dilley, B.J., Schoombie, S., Stevens, K., Davies, D., Perold, V., Osborne, A., Schoombie, J., Brink, C.W., Carpenter-Kling, T. & Ryan, P.G. 2018.  Mouse predation affects breeding success of burrow-nesting petrels at sub-Antarctic Marion Island.  Antarctic Science 30: 93-104.  [click here].

Schoombie, S. & Schoombie, J. 2017.  Pseudo-egg “fabrication” by Grey-headed Albatrosses Thalassarche chrysostoma on Marion Island.  Seabird 30: 71-74.  [click here].

Schoombie, S., Schoombie, J., Brink, C.W., Stevens, K.L., Jones, C.W., Risi, M.M. & Ryan, P.G. 2019.  Automated extraction of bank angles from bird-borne video footage using open-source software. Journal of Field Ornithology 90: 361-372.  [click here].

Schoombie, S., Schoombie, J., Oosthuizen, A., Suleman, E., Jones, M.G.W., Pretorius, L., Dilley, B.J. & Ryan, P.G. 2017.  Avian pox in seabirds on Marion Island, southern Indian Ocean.  Antarctic Science 30: 3-12.  [click here].

Janine Schoombie, Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, University of Pretoria, 23 September 2021

A banking Wandering Albatross, artwork with coloured pencils for ACAP by Milena A. Maira Marchesse

Stefan Schoombie (FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa) and colleagues published in 2019 in the Journal of Field Ornithology on detecting bank angles of globally Vulnerable Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans in flight with bird-borne video cameras.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The use of miniaturized video cameras to study the at-sea behavior of flying seabirds has increased in recent years. These cameras allow researchers to record several behaviors that were not previously possible to observe. However, video recorders produce large amounts of data and videos can often be time-consuming to analyze. We present a new technique using open-source software to extract bank angles from bird-borne video footage. Bank angle is a key facet of dynamic soaring, which allows albatrosses and petrels to efficiently search vast areas of ocean for food. Miniaturized video cameras were deployed on 28 Wandering Albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) on Marion Island (one of the two Prince Edward Islands) from 2016 to 2018. The OpenCV library for the Python programming language was used to extract the angle of the horizon relative to the bird’s body (= bank angle) from footage when the birds were flying using a series of steps focused on edge detection. The extracted angles were not significantly different from angles measured manually by three independent observers, thus being a valid method to measure bank angles. Image quality, high wind speeds, and sunlight all influenced the accuracy of angle estimates, but post-processing eliminated most of these errors. Birds flew most often with cross-winds (58%) and tailwinds (39%), resulting in skewed distributions of bank angles when birds turned into the wind more often. Higher wind speeds resulted in extreme bank angles (maximum observed was 94°). We present a novel method for measuring postural data from seabirds that can be used to describe the fine-scale movements of the dynamic-soaring cycle. Birds appeared to alter their bank angle in response to varying wind conditions to counter wind drift associated with the prevailing westerly winds in the Southern Ocean. These data, in combination with fine-scale positional data, may lead to new insights into dynamic-soaring flight.”

With thanks to Janine Schoombie.

Reference:

Schoombie, S., Schoombie, J., Brink, C.W., Stevens, K.L., Jones, C.W., Risi, M.M. & Ryan, P.G. 2019.  Automated extraction of bank angles from bird-borne video footage using open-source software.  Journal of Field Ornithology 90: 361-372.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 22 September 2021

Mike Double, as he writes “looking suitably cold down in Antarctica”

At the 12th Meeting of the ACAP Advisory Committee, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this month, its Chair, Nathan Walker (Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand) stood down.  The meeting then elected Dr Michael Double in his place.

Mike Double is a Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division, based in Kingston, Tasmania where he leads the AAD’s Wildlife Ecology and Management Section (that conducts research on ACAP-listed species) and the Australian Marine Mammal Centre.  Mike obtained his PhD from the United Kingdom’s University of Leicester in 1995.  He then moved to Australia to take up a post-doctoral fellowship at the Australian National University in Canberra, followed by a move to the Australian Antarctic Division in 2007.  His research interests include the movement, distribution and population ecology of both marine mammals and seabirds.  His more than 90 scientific publications include several papers on the biology, taxonomy and conservation of ACAP-listed Shy Thalassarche cauta and White-capped T. steadi Albatrosses.

Mike writes to ACAP Latest News:

"It’s an honour to be elected as Chair of the Advisory Committee and I look forward to serving ACAP and its Parties to progress the conservation of albatrosses and petrels.  These iconic birds of wild oceans continue to face many threats and although ACAP and its Parties have many conservation successes to celebrate, populations continue to decline.  ACAP’s role remains as critical as ever and I hope I can facilitate further steps towards reducing human-induced impacts on ACAP-listed species.”

Prior to his appointment as AC Chair, Mike Double served as a member of the Agreement’s Taxonomy Working Group from 2005, a large part of that period as its Convenor.  He has also attended international meetings of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and the International Whaling Commission (IWC) as a member of Australia’s delegations.

At AC12 Sebastián Jiménez (Uruguay) was appointed Co-convenor and Dimas Gianuca (Brazil) Co-vice convenor of ACAP’s Seabird Bycatch Working Group, which had met virtually a week before AC12.  These appointments were occasioned by the resignation of the SBWG’s Co-convenor, Anton Wolfaardt, so that he may concentrate his efforts as Project Leader for the Mouse-Free Marion Project.

The Advisory Committee took the occasion to thank Nathan for his leadership and dedication to the work of the Advisory Committee and Anton for his leadership and contributions to the Seabird Bycatch Working Group over many years.

With thanks to Mike Double.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 21 September 2021

 
Trail camera image of a cat near two Pink-footed Shearwaters on Isla Mocha; from the publication

Ryan Carle (Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge, Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile) and colleagues have published in the open access electronic journal PLoS ONE on deploying trail cameras to record the presence of mammals within breeding colonies of the globally Vulnerable Pink-footed Shearwater Ardenna creatopus.

The paper’s abstract in English and Spanish follows:

“Biodiversity conservation planning requires accurate, current information about species status and threats.  Although introduced mammals are the greatest threat to seabirds globally, data on introduced species is lacking for many seabird breeding islands.  To inform conservation planning, we used trail cameras to document the presence, relative abundance, and seasonal and diel attendance of introduced and native vertebrates within pink-footed shearwater (Ardenna creatopus) breeding colonies on Isla Mocha (five colonies, 2015–2020) and Isla Robinson Crusoe (Juan Fernández Archipelago), Chile (one colony, 2019–2020).  The most commonly detected species were pink-footed shearwaters and introduced rats (Rattus spp.) on Isla Mocha, and European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and pink-footed shearwaters on Isla Robinson Crusoe.  Introduced mammals observed, in order of greatest catch-per-unit-effort, were rats, cats (Felis catus), dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), and European hares (Lepus europaeus) on Isla Mocha and European rabbits, cats, cattle (Bos taurus), rats, dogs, mice (Mus musculus), and southern coati (Nasua nasua) on Isla Robinson Crusoe.  Especially noteworthy results for pink-footed shearwater conservation were the presence of cats during all monitoring months in shearwater colonies on both islands, that catch-per-unit-effort of rabbits was greater than shearwaters on Isla Robinson Crusoe, and that rats were the most observed vertebrates after shearwaters on Isla Mocha.  Pink-footed shearwaters were regularly present on the islands from October through May.  Presence and relative catch-per-unit-effort of pink-footed shearwaters qualitatively matched the species’ known breeding phenology.  The regular presence and temporal overlap with shearwaters of cats, rats, rabbits, and cattle within shearwater colonies, coupled with the irregular presence of dogs, coati, hares, and mice, indicated a serious conservation threat for pink-footed shearwaters and other native insular fauna and flora.  Finally, our study provides a widely applicable model for analysis of multi-year trail camera data collected with unstandardized settings.”

A feral cat inspects a Pink-footed Shearwater burrow, photograph from Oikonos

Resumen en Español:

La planificación para la conservación de la biodiversidad requiere información precisa y actualizada sobre el estado de las especies y sus amenazas. Aunque los mamíferos introducidos son la mayor amenaza para las aves marinas a nivel mundial, faltan datos sobre especies introducidas presentes en muchas islas donde nidifican aves marinas. Para orientar la planificación de la conservación, utilizamos cámaras trampas que documentaron la presencia, abundancia relativa y visitación estacional y diaria de vertebrados introducidos y nativos dentro de las colonias reproductivas de fardela blanca (Ardenna creatopus) en Isla Mocha (cinco colonias, 2015-2020) e Isla Robinson Crusoe en el Archipiélago Juan Fernández (una colonia, 2019-2020), Chile. Las especies más comúnmente detectadas en Isla Mocha fueron la fardela blanca y ratas introducidas (Rattus spp.), y el conejo europeo (Oryctolagus cuniculus) y la fardela blanca en Isla Robinson Crusoe. Los mamíferos introducidos más detectados, en orden de mayor captura por unidad de esfuerzo, fueron ratas, gatos (Felis catus), perros (Canis lupus familiaris) y liebres europeas (Lepus europaeus) en Isla Mocha y conejos, gatos, ganado bovino (Bos taurus), ratas, perros, ratones (Mus musculus) y coatíes (Nasua nasua) en la Isla Robinson Crusoe. Los resultados más relevantes para la conservación de la fardela blanca mostraron la presencia de gatos durante todos los meses de monitoreo en las colonias reproductivas en ambas islas, mayor captura por unidad de esfuerzo de conejos que de fardelas en la Isla Robinson Crusoe, y la gran presencia de ratas en Isla Mocha siendo los vertebrados más registrados después de las fardelas. Las fardelas blancas estuvieron presentes regularmente en ambas islas desde octubre hasta mayo. La presencia y captura relativa por unidad de esfuerzo de fardela blanca coincide cualitativamente con la fenología reproductiva conocida para la especie. La presencia regular y la superposición temporal de fardelas con gatos, ratas, conejos y ganado bovino dentro de las colonias de fardela, junto con la presencia irregular de perros, coatís, liebres y ratones, indican una amenaza seria para la conservación de la fardela blanca y otras especies nativas. Finalmente, nuestro estudio proporciona un modelo ampliamente aplicable para el análisis de datos recopilados por varios años a través de cámaras trampas con configuraciones no estandarizadas.

Reference:

Carle, R.D., Fleishman, A.B., Varela, T., Manríquez Angulo, P., De Rodt, G., Hodum, P., Colodro, V., López, V. & Gutiérrez-Guzmán, H. 2021.  Introduced and native vertebrates in pink-footed shearwater (Ardenna creatopus) breeding colonies in Chile.  PLoS ONE  doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254416.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 20 September 2021