SECOND UPDATE

Voting is open until 17h00 (New Zealand Standard Time), Sunday 15 November

Vote here by clicking on "Pick me" on the five photos you choose (hint: click on Antipodean Albatross as your No. 1)

The Live Ocean Charitable Trust writes "... we'd really, really like a win for our great ocean voyager, the Toroa/Antipodean albatross. The winning bird gets its moment in the spotlight and shining a light on the issues it faces at sea is seriously helpful.  The future is looking even more uncertain for this amazing seabird with recent DOC estimates being revised upwards to show we're losing 2,300 of these birds each year unnecessarily".

 Once more, BirdLife’s partner in New Zealand, Forest & Bird, is running its popular Bird of the Year competition (‘BOTY2020’).  This time three procellariform seabirds have been chosen, (along with many other New Zealand birds) as eligible to receive votes.  They are:

Antipodean Albatross or Toroa Diomedea antipodensis

Black Petrel or Taiko Procellaria parkinsoni

Hutton’s Shearwater or Kaikōura Tītī Puffinus huttonii

Both the albatross and petrel are ACAP-listed species; all three breed only in New Zealand and are considered to be globally threatened.

“Voting is based on an instant runoff voting (IRV) system.  When you vote, you can rank up to five of your favourite birds, with #1 indicating your favourite bird, #2 indicating your second favourite bird, and so on”.  Voting will be from 2 - 15 November.  Read more about the voting system here.

The globally Endangered (and Nationally Critical) Antipodean Albatross is No. 1 on the ACAP Information Officer’s voting list (as it was in 2019).  Fitting as the nominate subspecies that breeds only on Antipodes Island – where its population continues to decline – has been identified by ACAP’s Advisory Committee as a Priority Population for conservation management.  Enthusiasm in New Zealand has led to it already having its own Facebook Group – Albatross for Bird of the Year #VoteToroa.

A colour-banded Antipodean Albatross stretches its wings on Antipodes Island, photograph by Kath Walker

Read an illustrated species summary for the Antipodean Albatross written especially for this year’s inaugural World Albatross Day.

No procellariform seabird has won since the competition commenced in 2005. Time for a change?

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 24 September 2020, updated 02 & 13 November 2020

“This massive dataset is the result of the work coordinated by the University of Barcelona since 2007, and will help develop marine protected areas and marine spatial planning © Universitat de Barcelona”

A consortium of 13 local and international organisations coordinated by BirdLife International has been surveying colonies of and at-sea tracking seven species of procellariiform seabirds that breed on islands of Cabo Verde some 600 km off the west coast of Africa.  One of these species, the endemic and Near Threatened Cape Verde Shearwater Calonectris edwardsii, has been shown to travel eastward to inshore waters off West Africa.  From the above map it is notable that practically all of the species’ at-sea yellow tracks fall within the 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zones of Mauretania and Senegal, as well as of Cabo Verde itself.

A Cape Verde Shearwater at sea

“This means that, for the first time, we know where these birds are going to find their food and thus, plot where birds interact with fishing vessels”, explains Herculano de Andrade Dinis, the Executive Director of Projecto Vitó, a local NGOs who [sic] has been key in the research.”

Read more at “How Cabo Verde is becoming a safe haven for seabirds” and visit a website dedicated to Cabo Verde seabirds (in Portuguese).

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 13 November 2020

Illustrator Jamie Watts has produced a new poster in his albatross series, this time illustrated 12 taxa that breed in New Zealand. The adult birds are illustrated standing and in flight.

The new release comes at a good time with a just few days left to vote for the Antipodean Albatross as your No. 1 preference in New Zealand’s ‘Bird of the Year (‘BOTY 2020’) competition.  So far it seems this globally Endangered and Nationally Critical species is leading the competition.  The New Zealand NGO Southern Seabirds Solutions Trust says on its Facebook Page that if “the Toroa (Antipodean Albatross) wins it will help … to attract support for important work to improve fishing practices on high seas vessels.”

An Antipodean Albatross off Kaikoura, photograph by Kerry-Jayne Wilson

Jamie’s albatross posters (and his others including of penguins and marine mammals) are available for purchase from JamieWattsArt in two size options (50 x 70 cm and 61 x 91 cm).  He has previously informed ACAP Latest News that his posters are professionally printed on high-quality A3 satin matt photo paper from 12 to 20 megapixel, hand-produced originals and are mailed in a tube.

With thanks to Jamie Watts, who has allowed his posters to be used to help promote this year’s inaugural World Albatross Day.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 12 November 2020

Downed fledgling Westland Petrels ready  for release

Good news for New Zealand’s endemic globally Endangered and nationally Naturally Uncommon Westland Petrel Procellaria westlandica comes from the Westland Petrel Conservation Trust via recent posts to its Facebook Page: “After 12 months of discussion with the NZTA [Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency] about the streetlight upgrade in Punakaiki causing Westland Petrel fallout, the most pragmatic and best possible outcome has been confirmed.  The street lights are going to be switched off for all of fledging season!”  The birds become disoriented by the light and crash-land on to the road, where they are often severely injured, struck by cars or eaten by predators.

The threatened Westland Petrel or Taiko is an ACAP-listed species endemic to New Zealand’s South Island and only to be found breeding at a single locality close to Punakaiki.  A s a result of the discussions 15 street lights have been switched off as a trial along a 3.4-km section of the state highway for two months from 8 November to 8 January when the fledglings leave their nest burrows (click here) - to great effect as illustrated below.

On the other side of South Island adults and fledglings of the Nationally Vulnerable and globally Endangered Hutton’s Shearwater or Kaikōura Tītī Puffinus huttoni leaving their mountain burrows crash land after becoming disoriented by artificial lights in the town (click here).  Unlike in Punakaiki, it seems there are no plans to turn off the street lights in Kaikōura because it has a lot more traffic and people.  However, the Hutton’s Shearwater Charitable Trust has posted on its Facebook Page that the Kaikōura District Council is currently proposing to replace all of the township’s streetlights with “wildlife-friendly LED luminaries”.  The trust is urging Kaikōura residents to turn off non-essential outside lights, close curtains at night, keep cats and dogs inside at night and drive carefully particularly from mid-March to early April – when fledging takes place.

A road-killed Hutton's Shearwater in a Kaikōura street

Read earlier posts to ACAP Latest News on the deleterious effects of street lighting on both Westland Petrels and Hutton’s Shearwaters.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 11 October 2020