Dedicated to the memory of Kerry-Jayne Wilson MNZM, 6 March 1950 - 29 March 2022

“Albatrosses and other seabirds are under threat, and climate change will further intensify that threat.  Imagine a world without these magnificent birds, is that the legacy we want to leave for generations to come?” - written for the  inaugural World Albatross Day on 19 June 2020

What must be one of her last writings is her Photo Essay for the ACAP-listed Westland Petrel (click here)

Westland Petrel by ABUN co-founder Kitty Harvill for ACAP, acrylic on canvas; after a photograph by Frank Valckenborgh

Note:  The illustrated Species Summaries have been written to help inform the general public, including school learners, of the biology and conservation needs of the 31 ACAP-listed species.  They serve to complement the more detailed and referenced ACAP Species Assessments.  To date, summaries for the 22 species of albatrosses have been produced in in all three ACAP official languages, English, French and Spanish.

Texts have also been prepared for the nine ACAP-listed petrels and shearwaters in English, but as yet have not been translated into French and Spanish.  As an interim service, the illustrated English texts are being posted to ACAP Latest News, continuing here with the Westland Petrel Procellaria westlandica.

Kerry-Jayne Wilson with a Westland Petrel; photograph by Susan Waugh

The Westland Petrel is one of five medium-to-large petrels within the genus Procellaria, along with the Black, Grey, Spectacled and White-chinned.  Among all the petrels and shearwaters in the family Procellariidae they are the largest that dig and breed in burrows.  The species is overall dark brown to black, with black legs and feet.  The bill is pale yellow with a black tip.  It is similar in appearance to the smaller Black Petrel.

The Westland Petrel is a New Zealand endemic that currently breeds at only one locality: in hills close to the small community of Punakaiki on the west coast of South Island.  It previously had a slightly larger known breeding range.  The species’ population has been estimated as consisting of around 3000-5000 annually breeding pairs; including non-breeders the species’ adult population may be up to 14 000 birds.  Population trend remains uncertain.  At-sea non-breeding range extends to the east coast of Australia (rarely) and to the Pacific coast of South America.  Satellite tracking reveals breeding birds tend to forage over the New Zealand continental shelf and slope.Westland Petrels breed colonially in the austral winter, laying their single eggs in burrows dug between tree roots in a dense mixed podocarp forest.  Diet includes fish and squid caught by surface seizing and shallow dives.  Scavenging on fisheries waste from both longline and trawl vessels also occurs.

A Westland Petrel inside its burrow; photograph by Kate Simister

The species is at risk to fishing, being occasionally caught on longlines and interacting with trawls when scavenging behind vessels.  Land-based threats include introduced mammals (Common Brushtail Possums, rats, feral cats, dogs and goats, and potentially feral pigs) at the breeding locality and nearby street and village lights and power lines downing fledglings which can then fall victim to road traffic.  Breeding birds are at risk to severe storms destroying burrows.  A 2014 storm damaged half the breeding colonies.  The Westland Petrel has a global threat category of Vulnerable and is nationally Naturally Uncommon.

The Westland Petrel breeding site is largely contained within a Specially Protected Area which abuts the Paparoa National Park.  Entry, included by guided tourists via a walkway and viewing shelter, is by permit.  Traps are set alongside the walkway to catch Stoats and rats.  Recent efforts have been made to reduce downing by switching off streetlights during the fledging season with some success.  The species is listed within the Albatross and Petrel Agreement (ACAP) and the Convention on Migratory Species on Appendix II.  The charity Westland Petrel Conservation Trust works to promote, support and actively engage in the conservation, preservation and protection of the Westland Petrel.

Sources:

ACAP 2012.  Westland Petrel Procellaria westlandica.

Bell, E.A. 2013.  Westland petrel.  In: Miskelly, C.M. (Ed.)  New Zealand Birds Online.

BirdLife International 2021.  Species factsheet: Procellaria westlandica.

Wilson, K.-J. 2021. Featuring ACAP-listed species and their photographers: the Westland Petrel by Kerry-Jayne Wilson. ACAP Latest News, 16 September 2021

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 30 March 2022

 
Still at risk to mice?  A Critically Endangered Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena pair tends its chick on Gough Island; photograph by Michelle Risi

The UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) aims to recruit a Field Team Leader and a Field Officer to carry out bird monitoring and other field work over 15 months on Gough Island, following the unsuccessful House Mouse eradication operation on the island lsast year.  Gough Island in the South Atlantic forms part of the UK Overseas Territory of St Helena, Ascension, Tristan da Cunha and is considered one of the world’s most important seabird breeding sites.

“This position offers a unique opportunity for highly motivated and disciplined individuals with relevant fieldwork skills and a keen interest in wildlife, who can adapt well to small island living in a challenging and remote sub-Antarctic environment.  Work during the seabird breeding season is very intense, with frequent long hours of fieldwork and data entry and management, so it is important to be well organised.  Data are managed using databases and checked by creating and inspecting reports on a monthly basis, observing deadlines at frequent intervals.  The results underpin efforts to restore the Gough and Inaccessible Islands World Heritage Site.”

Interviews for the two positions are planned for early May 2022.  For further information contact the RSPB’s Antje Steinfurth at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

More details can be found in the Field Team Leader and Field Officer adverts.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 29 March 2022

Laysan Albatrosses, coloured pencils, by ABUN artist Tatiana Petrova for World Albatross Day 2022

As previously announced, the Seventh Session of the Meeting of Parties to the Agreement (MoP7) will be held virtually over 9-13 May 2022, with Australia acting as meeting host and Chair.  Further information is now available in a second circular that gives details on timing and dates, technical arrangements, ad hoc meeting guidelines and registering.

MoP7 will begin with a Heads of Delegation meeting.  An Annotated Provisional Agenda is available (MoP7 Doc 02) as are other Meeting Documents and Information Papers that will be considered at the meeting.

As was the case with the 12th Meeting of the Advisory Committee (AC12), Congress Rental has been chosen to manage the technical aspects of the meeting, which will use the Interprefy platform.

Prospective participants should register by 15 April.  A registration form is available from here.

French and Spanish versions of Circular No. 2, meeting documents and the registration form are also available.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 28 March 2022

Three OVAPD workers construct a bird-scaring line as BirdLife South Africa's Reason Nyengera looks on; photograph from the Albatross Task Force

Reason Nyengera, Albatross Task Force Project Manager, BirdLife South Africa reports that over 1000 bird-scaring lines have been supplied by the ATF to vessels that fish within South African waters.

He writes: “Each year thousands of seabirds are accidentally killed while foraging behind fishing vessels in the world’s oceans.  One of the most efficient solutions to reduce seabird bycatch is to use a device known as a bird-scaring line (BSL), or tori line, to deter birds from entering the danger zone behind fishing vessels.  One of the cornerstones of our work is to provide cost-effective, efficient and science-based seabird bycatch mitigation measures to the South African fishing industry, and ensuring that all vessels are equipped with BSLs is an integral part of this mission.  A collaborative BSL-manufacturing project has been initiated between BirdLife South Africa and the Ocean View Association for Persons with Disabilities (OVAPD), a registered non-profit institution that provides people with disabilities from in and around the local community with a place where they can interact, learn skills and make a small income.”

A bird-scaring line flutters above a longline; photograph by Domingo Jimenez

Funding to purchase raw materials for the manufacture of BSLs has been funded by Rand Merchant Bank over the last decade.

“Since the beginning of this collaborative project we have supplied more than 1000 BSLs, effectively equipping 60% of the [South African] vessels that interact with seabirds.  The BSLs in South Africa have directly contributed to a 99% reduction in the deaths of albatrosses in the demersal hake trawl fishery and an 85% reduction in seabird mortality in one of our longline fisheries.  Since its inception, the project has prevented the deaths of approximately 58 000 seabirds in the South African trawl fisheries alone.  And 58 people with disabilities gain technical life skills, socio-economic welfare and upliftment every year through it.”

Read the original news story here and access earlier related posts to ACAP Latest News on the subject.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 25 March 2022