Grey Petrel and downy chick on Macquarie Island, photograph by Richard Deakin

Julie McInnes (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Battery Point, Tasmania, Australia) and colleagues have published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice on searching for the presence of burrowing petrels, including the Near Threatened and ACAP-listed Grey Petrel Procellaria cinerea, by DNA analyses of feathers and scats.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Species inventories and biodiversity assessments are critical to conservation. Yet cryptic species or recolonizing species can be challenging to detect. DNA metabarcoding provides an alternative tool to identify species that can be difficult to observe during field surveys. We test the efficacy of DNA analysis to identify burrowing petrel species in a rapidly changing landscape, on a remote sub-Antarctic island following pest eradication. Discarded feathers and scats provided high quality DNA for species identification, assisting in detection of new species arrivals and new breeding sites across Macquarie Island. We highlight how DNA metabarcoding informs species inventories and is a valuable tool to complement seabird field surveys.”

Reference:

McInnes, J.C., Bird, J.P., Deagle, B.E., Polanowski, A.M. & Shaw, J.F. 2021.  Using DNA metabarcoding to detect burrowing seabirds in a remote landscape.  Conservation Science and Practice  https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.439.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 01 June 2021

A fledgling Scopoli's Shearwater

Paolo Becciu (Animal Flight Laboratory, Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, University of Haifa, Israel) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Ethology on lack of chick recognition by Scopoli's Shearwaters Calonectris diomedea.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Parent–offspring recognition (POR) is fundamental in colonial birds when the potential intermingling of chicks is higher due to the large number and proximity of nests. In species with isolated nests, where chick presence in the nest is strong contextual evidence of kinship, there might be circumstances when the parent might doubt the identity of the chick, but not enough to reject it. Olfactory-based recognition of conspecifics and nest sites in birds has gained strong evidence suggesting a potential role of olfaction in POR. Despite that, there are no studies testing it. We used Scopoli's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea) as model colonial single-brooded species with a developed olfactory sense, usually breeding in well-spaced nests with low probability of chicks mixing. We tested the parent's ability to selectively respond to their own chick as opposed to a simpler rule of feeding any chick found in the nest by means of chick-fostering experiments. We designed two cross-fostering experiments using chicks of different ages to test whether the ability of parents to recognize a related chick develops over time, possibly after acquiring an own distinctive odour. Finally, we also manipulated nests’ odour to disentangle the confounding effect of nest site recognition from POR when parents return at night. All experimental chicks were adopted by parents as the weight and bill growth of cross-fostered chicks did not differ significantly from the control group. We recorded a small difference in weight when foster chicks were inside an odour-manipulated nest; although we did not record weight loss in experimental chicks, only a steeper increase in weight was observed in control chicks. In conclusion, adoption in Scopoli's shearwater seems to follow the rule "if the young is in my nest, accept it" proposed by Beecher (1991) for species with spatially separated nests and low chick mobility.”

Reference:

Becciu, P., Campioni, L., Massa, B. & Dell'Omo, G. 2021.  Unconditional adoption rules out the need for parent-offspring recognition in a single-brooded colonial seabird.  Ethology doi.org/10.1111/eth.13167 doi.org/10.1111/eth.13167.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 31 May 2021

Shaun Schneier on the plateau of Cape Town’s Table Mountain – with the Southern Ocean over the horizon

Following the Mouse-Free Marion Project’s interview with Roeloff Botha, one of the very few who so far have sponsored at least 100 hectares of the 30 000-ha island to help rid it of introduced House Mice that have taken to attacking albatross chicks, the project has turned to another member of the prestigious and select ‘Wandering Albatross’ sponsorship category.  He is South African Shaun Schneier, who currently leads the challenge by sponsoring a magnificent 145 hectares (at 1000 South African Rands a hectare).  The project’s interview with Shaun follows.

MFM:  Have you had a personal connection with Marion, perhaps by visiting the island?

SS:  No, unfortunately I have not yet visited the island but would certainly consider a future visit.

MFM:  What motivated you to make your sponsorship?9

SS:  When I was still at school I watched a documentary about albatrosses. I do not recall if it was about different species or just the Wandering Albatross. What really captivated me was their size and their way of taking off and landing, running and gaining speed into the wind and sometimes landing quite clumsily due to their considerable momentum. I could not help comparing this style of flight to that of an aeroplane as they soar so effortlessly once airborne! I subsequently gained great respect for their ability to remain at sea for long periods of time, the long journeys they make, the distances they travel just to enable them to feed their chicks and their ability to fly gracefully in gale-force winds. It is horrifying that creatures of such grace and dignity are being subjected to being eaten alive due to human carelessness which has enabled rodents to invade their habitat. I also find it disturbing that places as remote as Marion Island can so easily be degraded by invasive species and plastic waste. It is up to us as a species to do everything we can to undo the damage we are causing to our planet and its wonderful ecosystems.

MFM:  Any other information about yourself that will give context to your donation?

SS:  From 1984 to 2007 I worked in the Marine and Coastal Management Branch of the (then) South African Department of Environmental Affairs (now the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment). I then did some consulting work and am now retired. Although my academic background was in marine science and coastal management, I noticed that politicians and decision-makers were generally more persuaded by economic arguments than scientific ones. Recognizing the importance of environmental economics as a field which assigns economic value to ecosystems and their services, I completed some courses in economics and environmental economics. I have also been a member of environmental NGOs such as BirdLife South Africa and the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA).

MFM:  Anything else you might like to have mentioned?

SS:  In order to assist you to encourage others to support the eradication of the "killer" mice, I would like to contribute the following.  As mentioned on the Marion-Free website, “Marion Island is the jewel in South Africa’s island crown – it is huge and beautiful, hosts an astonishing array of endemic species and charismatic marine megafauna” and should be pristine. The island’s ecological value prompted the South African Government in 2003 to declare the Prince Edward Islands (which include Marion) a Special Nature Reserve, in terms of the Protected Areas Act. A plague of mice on the island now poses a threat to the survival of 18 of the 27 seabird species that breed on the island, including that charismatic icon of the open ocean, the Wandering Albatross.  Mice also have significant impacts on invertebrates such as the flightless moths and weevils, plant communities and nutrient cycles.

The costs of leaving mice unchecked on Marion Island would be extremely serious. The island’s ecological integrity and the rationale for declaring it as a Special Nature Reserve would be undermined. In contrast, the benefits of eradicating the mice from the island would be enormous. Successful mice eradication projects on New Zealand’s Antipodes Island and the United Kingdom’s South Georgia [Islas Georgias del Sur*] have demonstrated the viability of such projects and ecological restoration is already evident!  Because Marion will be by far the largest island on which a mice eradication project is executed, this project will represent a great conservation achievement for South Africa and all the individuals who contribute.

MFM:  Thank you!

Will there be further sponsorships to match or even exceed Shaun Schneier’s 145 hectares, either from individuals or from groups?  Marion Island’s beleaguered seabirds definitely hope so!

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 28 May 2021

*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.

Note:  This news post in a slightly different version also appeared today on the Mouse-Free Marion Project’s website.

The 2021 Short-tailed Albatross chick approaches fledging, photograph from the Friends of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge

George and Geraldine make up the sole pair of Vulnerable Short-tailed Albatrosses Diomedea albatrus that breed on Midway Atoll’s Sand Island.  They commenced breeding on the island in 2018 after first meeting up on the island in 2016 and have attempted breeding every year since. Their third chick was thought to have hatched on 1 January and will soon be fledging, according to a post and video by the Friends of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge Facebook page:

“Watch the 2021 short-tailed albatross chick as it practices wing flapping while its mother makes a slow walk to the beach to depart after potentially her final feeding and the chick's possible last glance at its' mother. This chick will spend it most its growing up years out foraging and getting to know its home at sea. The chick will likely fledge from Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge within the next couple of weeks.”

Watch the video here.

George and Geraldine’s latest chick was banded recently (click here).

Meanwhile, the latest chick of Wisdom, the well-known Laysan Albatross P. immutabilis, and her mate Akeakamai, is also doing well on Midway (watch video).

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 27 May 2021