Letizia Campioni (MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Instituto Universitário, Lisbon, Portugal) and colleagues have published in the journal Animal Behaviour on visits to non-natal colonies by pre-breeding Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“In long-lived species with delayed maturity, prebreeders are expected to gather information by visiting and sampling the quality of potential nesting areas (prospecting), before they choose where to breed. In most seabirds, this process is important because, once recruited, individuals generally remain site-faithful throughout their long reproductive life. As many seabirds are believed to display low levels of natal dispersal, it is possible that natal philopatry is an obligate strategy for most individuals, with prospecting being a negligible activity during the prebreeding stage. Using ringing information and GPS technology, we tracked breeding adults and prebreeder black-browed albatrosses, Thalassarche melanophris, from a colony of the Falkland Islands, during the breeding season. Breeding adults rarely engaged in prospecting, whereas prebreeders showed a high propensity to visit other colonies. Most prebreeders started prospecting ashore when 4–5 years old and most of the younger individuals prospected more than one breeding colony, with some prospecting up to five colonies in just 9 days. Prospecting activity did not differ between males and females and rapidly declined as prebreeders aged, by which time individuals had probably already selected their future nesting site. Nestling body mass at 60 days of age and hatching date did not influence prospecting behaviour later in life. Prospecting was mostly directed at colonies within 10 km from the natal place, but occurred regularly up to 55–65 km. While distance from the natal place was a strong predictor of the probability of a colony being prospected, colony size and growth rate were not. Our results provide new insights into the role of prospecting in the process of recruitment, showing that even for highly philopatric birds, recruitment to the natal colony (or to another nesting site) has the potential to be informed, not done blindly.”

With thanks to Letizia Campioni for information and photograph.

Reference:

Campioni, L., Granadeiro, J.P. & Catry, P. 2017.  Albatrosses prospect before choosing a home: intrinsic and extrinsic sources of variability in visit rates.  Animal Behaviour 128: 85-93.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 19 May 2017

Tina Cornioley (Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Switzerland) and colleagues have published open-access in the Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences on the relationships between body mass and breeding and survival in Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“One of the predicted consequences of climate change is a shift in body mass distributions within animal populations. Yet body mass, an important component of the physiological state of an organism, can affect key life-history traits and consequently population dynamics. Over the past decades, the wandering albatross—a pelagic seabird providing bi-parental care with marked sexual size dimorphism—has exhibited an increase in average body mass and breeding success in parallel with experiencing increasing wind speeds. To assess the impact of these changes, we examined how body mass affects five key life-history traits at the individual level: adult survival, breeding probability, breeding success, chick mass and juvenile survival. We found that male mass impacted all traits examined except breeding probability, whereas female mass affected none. Adult male survival increased with increasing mass. Increasing adult male mass increased breeding success and mass of sons but not of daughters. Juvenile male survival increased with their chick mass. These results suggest that a higher investment in sons by fathers can increase their inclusive fitness, which is not the case for daughters. Our study highlights sex-specific differences in the effect of body mass on the life history of a monogamous species with bi-parental care.”

A Wandering adult guards its chick on Marion Island, Prince Edward Island on the horizon, photograph by John Cooper

Read a news item on the paper here.

Reference:

Cornioley, T., Jenouvrier, S., Börger, L., Weimerskirch, H., & Ozgul, A. 2017.  Fathers matter: male body mass affects life-history traits in a size-dimorphic seabird.  Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences  doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.0397.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 May 2017

Following successful eradications of alien mammals on several other of its sub-Antarctic islands, New Zealand is now looking to “complete the set” by clearing its largest southern island of three introduced mammals by 2025 - as described in the following advertisement for a Pest Eradication Project Manager.

“New Zealand’s Department of Conservation is seeking a talented and experienced person to manage the planning and delivery of a complex and specialised project. The project aims to eradicate remaining mammalian pests (pigs, cats and mice) from 46 000-ha Auckland Island in New Zealand’s World Heritage listed Sub Antarctic region.

The position is based in Invercargill. The successful applicant will be largely office based during the planning phase. The role will also be required to lead and oversee work on remote Auckland Island (465 km south of Bluff, New Zealand) for periods. You will enjoy working as part of a team in a challenging environment.

The ambitious project is nationally significant and aligned with the Predator Free New Zealand initiative’s interim goal for ‘Eradication of predators from New Zealand’s Island Nature Reserves by 2025′. Success will be dependent on quality planning and delivery.

The successful applicant will have proven performance in project management with outstanding leadership and communications skills and experience managing high value relationships. Some of the other skills you will need include:

Physically fit and capable in remote field situations,
Good computer skills with competency across Microsoft suite,
Adaptability,
Strong collaboration ability,
Media skills,
Strong negotiation skills,
Pest control and eradication knowledge,
Remote island operational experience, and
Full driver’s licence.

Auckland's White-capped Albatrosses will be able to breed with more success once the feral pigs are eradicated, photograph by David Thompson

Please apply online here. Applications must include a cover letter, CV and evidence of the required capabilities as per the project description.

For any queries, please contact Tony Preston, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. VPN 5812 or telephone (03) 211 2412, quoting vacancy 400/84T1.

Applications close at 5 pm on Monday, 29 May 2017.”

Click for the Project Description and the Applicant Information Sheet.

Read a related ACAP Latest News item here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer. 17 May 2017

News from the Australasian Seabird Group’s on-line discussion group is that globally Near Threatened Flesh-footed Ardenna carnepeis and Wedge-tailed A. pacifica (Least Concern) Shearwaters on Australia’s Lord Howe Island have had a very poor breeding season.

Flesh-footed Shearwater, photograph by Barry Baker

Jann Gilbert (National Marine Science Centre, Southern Cross University) has written to the ASG listserv:

“In one of the hottest summers on record for Lord Howe, which included a 3-month drought, it appears that egg laying was delayed some 4-6 weeks, and there was high chick mortality during the season. Some of this was following a weather event at the beginning of March (prior to cyclone Debbie), which dumped almost 200 mm of rain over 10 days and was accompanied by winds of up to 83 km/h. This was followed by cyclone Debbie at the tail-end of the breeding season. Consequently, most fledglings are not well-enough developed to fledge and, of the limited number that are, many are emaciated, and contain plastic.”

Lord Howe’s shearwaters face threats at sea from both ingesting plastic particles and longline fishing and on land from introduced rodents.  Long-term plans to eradicate Black Rats Rattus rattus on Lord Howe, a World Heritage site since 1982, have not as yet come to fruition (click here and here) but it now seems likely the poison bait drop will take place during 2018.

Read and watch a video clip about nationally Vulnerable Flesh-footed Shearwater studies on New Zealand islands here.

ACAP has identified both the Flesh-footed and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters as potential candidates for listing within the Agreement.  To date, two shearwater species, Pink-footed A. creatopus and Balearic Puffinus mauretanicus, are ACAP-listed.

Selected Literature:

Baker, G.B. & Wise, B.S. 2005.  The impact of pelagic longline fishing on the flesh-footed shearwater Puffinus carneipes in Eastern Australia.  Biological Conservation 126: 306-316.

Cooper, J. & Baker, G.B. 2008.  Identifying candidate species for inclusion within the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.  Marine Ornithology 36: 1-8.

Hutton, I., Carlile, N. & Priddel, D. 2008.  Plastic ingestion by Flesh-footed Shearwaters, Puffinus carneipes, and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Puffinus pacificus.  Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 142: 67-72.

Lavers, J.L., Bond, A.L. & Hutton, I. 2014.  Plastic ingestion by Flesh-footed Shearwaters (Puffinus carneipes): Implications for fledgling body condition and the accumulation of plastic-derived chemicals.  Environmental Pollution 187: 124-129.

Priddel, D., Carlile, N., Fullager, P., Hutton, I. & O’Neill, L. 2006.  Decline in the distribution and abundance of the flesh-footed shearwaters (Puffinus carneipes) on Lord Howe Island, Australia. Biological Conservation 128: 412-424.

Reid, T.A., Hindell, M.A., Lavers, J.L. & Wilcox, C. 2013.  Re-examining mortality sources and population trends in a declining seabird: using Bayesian methods to incorporate existing information and new data. PLoS ONE. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0058230.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 16 May 2017