Henri Weimerskirch (CEBC, CNRS - Université de La Rochelle, Villiers en Bois, France) and colleagues have published in the journal Polar Biology this month on behavioural and physiological responses to drones (UAVs) flying over sub-Antarctic seabirds.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Drones and unmanned aerial vehicles are increasingly used in research on wildlife. Their wide applications can also give interesting insights into habitat use and population distribution. However, the disturbance they might be responsible for, on species and especially in protected areas has yet to be investigated. We assessed and compared the behavioural response of 11 southern seabird species at the Crozet Islands, Southern Indian Ocean, to drone approaches at specific altitudes. We first show that the behavioural response differed between species depending on the altitude of the drone approach. At 50 m of altitude, only one of the studied species showed a detectable reaction, whereas at 10 m, most species showed strong behavioural postures of stress. Adult penguins breeding in large colonies, and some albatross species showed little behavioural response even when the drone was as close as 3 m, whereas other species such as giant petrels or cormorants appeared highly sensitive to drone approaches. Among King Penguins, although incubating adults showed little signs of behavioural stress, non-breeding adults and fledglings in crèches exhibited strong behavioural responses to the drone approach. Monitoring heart rate allowed us to investigate the link between behavioural and physiological response to that specific potential stressor in king penguins. Whereas we confirmed the expected link between physiological and behavioural response in chicks, breeding adults showed no behavioural sign of stress but had a significant increase in heart rate, the relative increase being higher than in chicks. All together these results have important implications for the conservation of species and should be helpful for future legislations on the use of drones.”

Wandering Albatross, photograph by Linda Clokie

Reference:

Weimerskirch, H., Prudor, A. & Schull, Q. 2018. Flights of drones over sub-Antarctic seabirds show species- and status-specific behavioural and physiological responses. Polar Biology 41: 259-266.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 15 February 2018

ACAP Latest News has previously posted on efforts to increase the breeding success of globally Near Threatened Shy Albatrosses Thalassarche cauta on Australia’s Albatross Island by the provision of artificial nests (click here).

Last year in July 120 of the specially manufactured 12-20-kg nests were deployed on the island before the beginning of the breeding season. It was reported from an October return to the island in Bass Strait that birds had commenced to lay eggs in the artificial nests (click here)

Two types of artificial nests were manufactured. “Hebel” nests were made of an aerated and lightweight concrete product carved to shape. The other type was fashioned from a mudbrick, made from a mix of fibre, sand and clay. For biosecurity purposes the artificial nests were autoclaved before being taken to the island.

A Shy Albatross on a "Hebel" artificial nest; the material on the right lip of the nest was added by the birds themselves

Post-guard downy chicks on two mudbrick nests in the foreground, with a chick on a natural nest behind to the left

A further follow-up visit has shown promise: “the breeding success [to date] of pairs on artificial nests [are] 20% higher than those on natural nests” (click here to view a short video clip).

Rachael Alderman (Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, Hobart, Australia), project leader for the deployment of the artificial nests, writes to ACAP Latest News: “[w]e already know enough about climate change and Shy Albatross biology to know that we need to be proactive. With this project, we are aiming to develop adaptation options that may be used to increase the resilience of the Shy Albatross population in the face of climate change stressors. Importantly, we aim to develop and evaluate their efficacy while the population is still relatively abundant so we can select from a suite of proven tools in an informed manner – rather than be scrambling to intervene when we find the population at a critical level.”

Rachael Alderman checks a brooded chick on an artificial "Hebel" nest

A last visit will be made to the island in late March/early April just prior to fledging, so that final breeding success for both artificial and natural nests can be compared.

With thanks to Rachael Alderman for information and photographs.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 14 February 2018

Verónica Cortés (Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain) and colleagues have published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series on the bycatch of three species of shearwaters, including the ACAP-listed and globally Critically Endangered Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus in Mediterranean longline fisheries.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Hundreds of thousands of seabirds die annually as a result of being bycaught in longline fisheries, and these rates are unsustainable for many seabird populations worldwide. To understand effects at the population level, it is essential to assess sex- and age-biased mortalities, since uneven mortalities may exacerbate bycatch impacts. In the Mediterranean, bycatch is the main cause of population declines for the 3 endemic shearwater species (Scopoli’s Calonectris diomedea, Balearic Puffinus mauretanicus and Mediterranean shearwater P. yelkouan), but little is known about population biases of the birds caught in longliners. From 2003 to 2015, we collected 639 shearwater carcasses from Spanish longliners operating in the north-western Mediterranean, determined their age and sex and examined their spatial and temporal patterns and the origin of ringed birds. Most shearwaters caught in longliners were adults, but the proportion of immatures and subadults increased in the late breeding period. Adult Scopoli’s shearwaters were mostly caught around the breeding colonies. In contrast, all Puffinus birds were caught on the Iberian shelf. Catches of Scopoli’s shearwaters were male-biased, particularly during the pre-laying period and close to the breeding colonies. Catches of Puffinus shearwaters were also male-biased during the pre-laying period, but adult catches were female-biased during chick-rearing. Ring recoveries revealed that most birds were ringed in the nearby Balearic Islands, but some Scopoli’s shearwaters ringed in France and Italy were also caught during their migration, indicating that the impacts of the Spanish longliners extend well beyond the Spanish colonies. The adult-biased and sex-biased mortality found in this study may aggravate bycatch impacts on populations and highlights the urgent need for conservation action.”

Balearic Shearwaters killed by longliners get examined, photograph from Verónica Cortés

Reference:

Cortés, V., García-Barcelona, S. & González-Solís, J. 2018. Sex- and age-biased mortality of three shearwater species in longline fisheries of the Mediterranean. Marine Ecology Progress Series 588: 229-241.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 13 February 2018

Kazuto Kawakami (Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Ibaraki, Japan) and colleagues have published in the journal Ornithological Science on the taxonomic status of the globally Endangered Bannerman’s Shearwater Puffinus bannermani.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Puffinus lherminieri bannermani is a small black-and-white shearwater, which is endemic to the Ogasawara Islands, Japan. The taxonomic position of this shearwater is contentious. It is treated as a subspecies of Audubon's Shearwater P. lherminieri or the Tropical Shearwater P. bailloni in some checklists, while it is as considered monotypic, as Bannerman's Shearwater P. bannermani, in others. We examined the mitochondrial cytochrome b region to determine the taxon's phylogenetic position. While on the one hand the results showed that it was not genetically related to either P. lherminieri or P. bailloni, but formed a clade with P. myrtae, P. newelli, and P. auricularis, on the other hand, bannermani has diverged substantially from the other three taxa in both genetic and morphological features. This shearwater was first described as Bannerman's Shearwater, and our results confirm that P. lherminieri bannermani should be split from Audubon's Shearwater, and the monotypic Bannerman's Shearwater is recommended to be restored as a distinct species.”

A Bannerman's Shearwater at its breeding site on Minami-iwoto Island, Ogasawara Islands, June 2017

Photograph by Kazuto Kawakami

Click here to view more photographs of Bannerman's Shearwater.

Wth thanis to Kazuto Kawakami.

Reference:

Kawakami, K., Eda , M., Izumi, H., Horikoshi, K. & Suzuki, H. 2018. Phylogenetic position of Endangered Puffinus lherminieri bannermani. Ornithological Science 17: 11-18.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 12 February 2018