All smiles at the presentation ceremony  Tim Appleton and Penny Robinson, founders and organisers of Global Birdfair, with members of the BirdLife Pacific team in Suva, Fiji

This year’s Global Birdfair was held at Lyndon Top, Rutland, UK over 11-13 July.  The Global Birdfairs commenced in 2022, following a long run of annual British Birdwatching Fairs in Rutland that started in 1989 and ended due to COVID19 in 2020.  The 2025 fair adopted as its conservation project “Safeguarding Ocean Species”, looking once again at the incidental mortality (bycatch) of albatrosses and petrels caused by longline fisheries.  This followed on from the 2000 British Birdwatching Fair, which marked the commencement of BirdLife International’s then Seabird Conservation Programme, with its theme of “Keeping Albatrosses off the Hook”.

The 2025 project’s Flagship Species is the globally Endangered and Nationally Critical Antipodean Albatross Diomedea antipodensis – identified by ACAP as a Species of Special Concern.  The Safeguarding Ocean Species project is centred on the South Pacific with Suva, Fiji as its base, from where it works on reducing albatross bycatch in fisheries.

The fair has now announced that it raised US$140 000 towards its chosen project and “wishes the whole [BirdLife] Pacific team continued success in their hard work”.  BirdLife International CEO Martin Harper says: “We are hugely appreciative of the Global Birdfair community for their generous support to birds and BirdLife over so many years. This year’s funds will help us tackle the single greatest threat to our iconic seabirds in the Pacific. Crafted by local women in the Nasinu neighbourhood of Suva, these bird-scaring lines support local livelihoods and ensure safer seas in the southern Pacific.  With this huge funding boost, the programme will expand to more Pacific ports, empowering more women and protecting more albatrosses"

Manufacturing bird-scaring lines in Fiji

Registration for exhibitors, speakers and new applications for Global Birdfair 2026 opens in mid November.

Information from the Facebook pages of the Global Birdfair and BirdLife International.  Read more here.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 24 October 2025, updated 26 October 2025

 The juvenile Salvin’s Albatross at Auckland Zoo

A Vulnerable Salvin's Albatross Thalassarche salvini has been given a second chance at life.  The bird was found “struggling in the surf” on Te Oneroa-a-Tohe/Ninety Mile Beach on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island.  The bird, a juvenile, was collected by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and transported by air to the Auckland Zoo’s veterinary hospital.  Initial blood tests revealed a profoundly elevated white blood cell count and treatment was started immediately.  Once stabilised, the albatross was anaesthetised so that X-rays and an endoscopy could be performed.

Fish supper!

The Zoo’s senior vet said that during hospitalisation, the heavy mass of an albatross makes them susceptible to developing sores on the soles of their feet – known as pododermatitis.  “Preventing damage of their plumage is also essential, not just for flight but also for their ability to thermoregulate and remain waterproofed.  During rehabilitation, they must be kept on padded flooring, in a large enough space to allow wing extension, and with access to a clean pool.  Albatross do not feed when on land and require assisted feeding.”

Ready for release at sea

After weeks of treatment and care, the juvenile (thought to be six months old) had gained over 1 kg, and was given a clean bill of health.  In early October, members of Auckland Zoo vet team and DOC released the bird, named Tamarāwaho, into deep waters in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf.

Back in the water

Information and photographs from the Facebook page of the Auckland Zoo.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 23 October 2025

A Northern Royal Albatross family at Pukekura/Taiaroa Head, photograph by Junichi Sugushita

The last Endangered Northern Royal Albatross Diomedea sanfordi chick of the 2024/25 breeding season has fledged from Pukekura/Taiaroa Head.  A total of 38 chicks fledged from the colony, making it the most successful season on record.  The previous record of 33 was from each of the last two seasons.  The colony has grown from one breeding pair in 1937 to more than 80 pairs in [2024/]2025.  Eighteen fledglings were fitted with GPS trackers, showing that some are already most of the way across the Pacific heading towards South America.

Department of Conservation (DOC) Coastal Otago Albatross Ranger Sharyn Broni writes:

“It’s been a fantastic season at Pukekura.  The weather has been great with slightly cooler temperatures over summer, so there haven’t been overheating or flystrike issues, which is better for both the birds and rangers.

“The chicks have also needed less supplementary feeding than in past years, which suggests there was plenty of food available for the parents.  We even found a 2-kg eel next to one nest, which a parent had brought back!  There were several chicks, however, which lost one or both parents and required a lot of support from the rangers to ensure they were a healthy weight prior to fledging.

“Unfortunately, one chick took off successfully but was found dead at a local beach several days later.  We don’t know what the cause was.  It’s sad, but it’s natural that not all the chicks will be successful once they leave the colony.”

DOC co-manages the albatross colony as part of Te Poari a Pukekura (the Pukekura Co-management Trust) alongside Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou, Korako Kareta i Trust and Dunedin City Council, with the support of the Otago Peninsula Trust.

Information from the Department of Conservation.

Read about the 2024/25 Royal Cam chick fledging here.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 22 October 2025

A Wedge-tailed Shearwater chick in the Kaena Point NAR, photograph by Sora Gallo

Record numbers of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters Ardenna pacifica have bred within the predator-proof fence in the Kaena Point Natural Area Reserve on the Hawaiian island of Oahu this last breeding season.

Surveying Wedge-tailed Shearwaters within the Kaena Point NAR, photograph by Laura Crago

“Annual surveys began at this site in 1994 with only a handful of nests.  In 2011, a mammalian exclusion fence was built to protect Ka‘ena Point's wildlife.  Our latest survey [presumably of the 2024/25 breeding season] estimates there are 16 394 nests inside the fence.  Nest success was 47%, which is higher than the long-term average.

As the size of the colony has increased, so has the effort required to monitor it.  These annual surveys wouldn't be possible without the help of dedicated stewards from conservation organizations across the island.  Finding 30+ people who are willing to spend a day crawling around and peeking/reaching into holes in the ground is no easy feat.

The success of this mammalian exclusion fence and on-going management shows what’s possible when science, protection, and community come together.”

Information from the Facebook page of Pacific Rim Conservation.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 21 October 2025