The beached Light-mantled Albatross, Rameswaram Island, Tamil Nadu, India; photograph by Francis Aravind

A short communication published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa by H. Byju (Centre of Advanced Study in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai, Tamil Nadu, India) and N. Raveendran reports the first record of a Light-mantled Albatross Phoebetria palpebrata (Near Threatened) from India, and as the text states, for the whole Oriental Region.

The albatross was found and photographed alive, “quite frail, may be dehydrated, and unable to fly”, on Anthoniyapuram Beach, Rameswaram Island, Tamil Nadu on 8 September 2020.  After a level of care, which included an attempt to feed it, the albatross was released back to sea.

This is not the first record for this high-latitude Southern Ocean species crossing the equator into the northern hemisphere.  An earlier record is of a bird photographed off central California, USA in July 1994 (click here).

Read a popular account of the scientific publication.

With thanks to Jaimie Cleeland, Australian Antarctic Division.

References:

Byju, H. & Raveendran, N. 2022.  First Asian record of Light-mantled Albatross Phoebetria palpebrata (Foster, 1785) from Rameswaram Island, Tamil Nadu, India.  Journal of Threatened Taxa 14: 21473–21475.

Stallcup, R, & Terrill, S.1996.  Albatrosses and Cordell Bank.  Birding 28: 106-110.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 29 July 2022

The Bird Island Wandering Albatross on Kerguelen

A male Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans (Vulnerable) bearing UK (British Museum) metal band No. 4004249 on its left leg was photographed near Lac Marville, Courbet Peninsula, Kerguelen Archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean on 31 January 2022 by French research volunteer Kevin Guille.  The adult bird was first seen on its own in the Wanderer monitoring colony on the Courbet Peninsula, in the framework of the project “Seabirds and Marine Mammals as Sentinels of Global Change in the Southern Ocean” (Project: 109 ORNITHOECO) supported by the French Polar Institute Paul Emile Victor).  The bird was then involved in courtship behaviour with an arriving female Wanderer.

A view of the Courbet Peninsula monitoring colony; photographs by Kevin Guille

Following an enquiry by Karine Delord (Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, France), Andy Wood of the British Antarctic Survey replied that Wandering Albatross 4004249 was banded as a chick at Bird Island, South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur)* in the South Atlantic on 28 September 2009, making it a 12-year-old when resighted by Karine and her colleagues.  Andy also confirmed that after banding the bird has not been seen back on Bird Island.

This is the first time that an interchange of a Wandering Albatross between Bird Island and Kerguelen has been recorded, although there have been a few movements both ways between the French Crozet Islands (farther to the west from Kerguelen) and the South Atlantic island.  Very few records exist of movements between Kerguelen and the South African Prince Edward Islands in the southern Indian Ocean, although there are many interchanges between the Ile de la Possession, Crozet and the Prince Edwards, approximately 1000 km apart.

With thanks to Maëlle Connan, Karine Delord, Richard Phillips and Andy Wood.

Reference:

Cooper, J. & Weimerskirch, H. 2003.  Exchange of Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans between the Prince Edward and Crozet Islands: implications for conservation.  African Journal of Marine Science 25: 519-523.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 28 July 2022

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.

Bree Forrer at Dorrigo National Park, New South Wales, Australia; photograph by K. Sincock

Australian Bree Forrer has been contracted by the ACAP Secretariat to be its new Communications Advisor.  Based in New South Wales, Bree will help the Agreement increase its reach to the general public via social media and the ACAP website to spread the word on the conservation crisis still being faced by the world’s albatrosses and petrels – and what could and should be done to improve their status.  Following a decision made at the Seventh Session of the Meeting of the Parties (MoP7) held online in May this year, Bree has been working with the ACAP Secretariat on a part-time basis for three days a week from the beginning of June.

Bree Forrer is a communications graduate of the University of Newcastle, Australia with professional experience in the publishing, tertiary education and science research sectors.  Bree has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and most recently in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)*, where she was the Communications Officer for the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute, creating content for social media, website and the Institute’s quarterly newsletter.

One of the first tasks Bree has tackled has been setting up an Instagram account for the Agreement, a long-desired initiative but up to now one beyond the capacity of ACAP’s small Secretariat to manage.  Already ACAP Instagram (acap_birds) has a steadily growing number of subscribers following her near-daily posts.  This will complement the news section of the website and the ACAP Facebook page.  She has also been taking the lead editing and posting French and Spanish versions of the ACAP Species Summary Series.

The ACAP Secretariat is most pleased to be able to add Bree’s knowledge and skills to its portfolio and wishes her a productive and enjoyable time with the Agreement.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 27 July 2022

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.

Southern Giant Petrel chick on Marion Island; photograph by John Dickens

Marcela Uhart (Latin America Program, Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, USA), Ralph Vanstreels and Patricia Serafini have produced a report in the ACAP Conservation Guideline series that discusses how best to work with albatrosses and petrels in the face of avian Influenza, giving specific recommendations that include best practices for conducting fieldwork in seabird colonies.

A summary of the report follows in English.  The summary and full text are also available in French and Spanish on the ACAP website.

“Although most avian influenza infections are not pathogenic to seabirds, the current outbreak of high-pathogenicity H5N1 avian influenza (HPAI) has raised concern due to its unusual impact on wild birds. Although to date there are no reports of mortality events of Procellariiformes attributable to HPAI, the rapid spread of the currently prevalent H5N1 strains in the northern hemisphere and their unprecedented impacts on seabird populations raise concerns about potential risks for ACAP-listed species. The 2022/2023 austral summer may present the greatest potential for HPAI outbreaks among procellariiform populations, when most of these birds will congregate to breed at colonies in the southern hemisphere. Furthermore, all sites where ACAP-listed species congregate may be at risk of exposure via migratory birds or accidental introduction by human activities (e.g., banders, researchers and tourism) and should thus be in a state of alertness.”

Reference

Uhart, M., Vanstreels, R.E.T. & Serafini, P. 2022.  Guidelines for working with albatrosses and petrels during the on-going high-pathogenicity H5N1 avian Influenza outbreak.  ACAP Conservation Guideline.  4 pp.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 26 July 2022