“A large ironwood branch falls on both sides of perhaps the luckiest of albatross nests at Midway Atoll during the winter storms.  Hundreds of ironwood branches fell during the winter storms at Midway Atoll during December and early January, and several branches unfortunately crushed many albatross eggs”; photograph by Pam Repp, USFWS

In a year when World Albatross Day on 19 June will be marked with the theme of “Climate Change”, increased winter storms thought due to climate change have been impacting Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis (Near Threatened) and other seabirds that breed on USA’s  Midway Atoll in the low-lying North-western Hawaiian Islands.

“Since December 1, 2021 Midway Atoll has been experiencing repeated high-wind storm events, some containing winds over 50 miles per hour [80 km/h] that have impacted several species of seabirds and some of the World War II era buildings.  Waves have overtopped seawalls and invaded the beaches, causing a large number of nest failures from eggs being washed away or nests being flooded.   Hundreds of nests and eggs have been impacted. Falling trees and large branches have killed adult albatross and eggs”.

The low-lying islands and atolls in the Monument are extremely vulnerable to sea level rise, with some low-lying islands averaging only 3.2 meters in elevation.  Sea level at Midway Atoll rises at a rate of five millimeters per year, which is faster than the global average. This makes the impact of storms all the greater.

A Laysan Albatross nest near missed by fallen branches from Ironwood Casuarina equisetifolia trees; photograph by Pam Repp, USFWS

The majority of seabirds in the Pacific Islands nest[s] at or near sea level, regardless of the maximum elevation of the island on which they nest. For albatrosses and other seabirds, some years are calmer than others when wintering at Midway Atoll. This winter has been a rough one for some seabirds with more frequent storms than usual at Midway Atoll. Even when exposed to winds over 50 miles per hour winds and torrential rain, albatrosses patiently sit through storms while devotedly incubating their eggs. Despite their fearless paternal instincts, some birds aren’t as lucky and won’t make it through the storms.

Sea level rise and surge from storms and tsunamis put seabird nests at risk of flooding. In the winter of 2011 a tsunami wreaked havoc on Midway Atoll and nearly 300,000 albatrosses’ nests were destroyed [click here].  Climate change and consequent processes such as increased storm intensity are difficult to predict accurately and may prove impossible to manage.

Midway Atoll is ecologically significant on a global scale. Altogether, nearly three million birds nest at Midway Atoll Refuge and Memorial each year, including the world’s largest population of albatrosses, nunulu (Bonin petrels), and endangered Laysan ducks.

To stem the loss of nesting habitat for seabirds, whose primary nesting islands in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands may be lost to sea level rise, Pacific Rim Conservation and other partners are working with the Monument co-managers to create new, safe nesting sites for them on high-islands. Such proactive partnerships created to establish more secure seabird colonies on high islands within the historical nesting range, provide hope for these seabirds to not disappear from the Hawaiian Islands.”

Read more here and see an earlier post in ACAP Latest News on falling trees affecting breeding Laysan Albatrosses.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 25 January 2022

A Southern Giant Petrel chick begs for food, watercolour by ABUN artist Shary Weckwerth; after a photograph by Michelle Risi

Ted Lownie (Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada) and colleagues have published in the journal Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology on oxygen-carrying capacity of breeding giant petrels Macronectes spp,

The paper’s abstract follows

“Reproduction, and parental care in particular, are among the most energy-demanding activities within the annual cycle of adult birds. Parents that cannot meet the metabolic demands and other physiological costs of raising offspring may opt to abandon chicks in favour of self-maintenance and future reproduction. Recent work examining reproductive trade-offs in birds revealed an important role of oxygen carrying capacity in mediating variation in parental effort. This study explores the aerobic factors underlying the success or failure of parental care in two closely-related petrel species during their breeding season on Bird Island, South Georgia: northern giant petrels (Macronectes halli) and southern giant petrels (M. giganteus). Failed breeders of both sexes and species had significantly lower hematocrit levels (by 5.48 ± 0.64%) than successful breeders, and reticulocyte counts also tended to be lower in failed males, consistent with the hypothesis that parental care and workload depend on aerobic capacity. We discuss these results in relation to differences in the foraging ecology of both species and sexes.”

With thanks to Richard Phillips, British Antarctic Survey.

Reference:

Lownie, T., Jubinville, I., Williams, T.D., Phillips, R.A. & Crossin, G.T. 2022.  Varying aerobic capacity in relation to breeding stage and reproductive success in giant petrels (Macronectes spp.).  Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology  266. 111155.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 24 January 2022

 
Age-related variation in the plumage of Short-tailed Albatrosses

NOTE:  This post continues an occasional series that features photographs of the 31 ACAP-listed species, along with information from and about their photographers.  Here, Naoki Tomita illustrates the Vulnerable Short-tailed Albatrosses Phoebastria albatrus that he studies on Torishima, the species’ main breeding locality.  Naoki is a Researcher in the Division of Avian Conservation at the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology in Japan.

Naoki Tomitsa on Torishima; photograph by Masayoshi Kamioki

Torishima, home of the Short-tailed Albatross

Landing and unloading on Torishima; photograph by Masayoshi Kamioki

On the island we stay in a weather station that was used until 1965 and is being repaired

The crater of Mount Iwo-yama, an active volcano on Torishima.  There were pyroclastic flow eruptions in 1902 and 1939, and a recent small eruption in 2002

The Short-tailed Albatross was recently described as a species complex comprising two genetically and morphologically distinct populations (Torishima and Senkaku types), with assortative but incomplete mating between birds of both types on Torishima. (from left to right: a female and a male of the Torishima type, two females of the Senkaku type).  The Torishima type is larger in overall size than the Senkaku type.  Read more here; photograph by Miwa Konno

The Tsubamezaki Colony in the distance where Short-tailed Albatrosses were rediscovered breeding in 1951.  It is necessary to descend the cliff using a rope

The Tsubamezaki Colony.  Because of the steep slope, eggs and chicks can roll out of the nest; in addition, heavy rains cause scoria to flow down from the cliff

Young Short-tailed Albatrosses gather at sea near Torishima

Two Short-tailed Albatrosses engage in a courtship display

Researchers (Naoki Tomita second left) with their World Albatross Day 2020 banner.  The Hatsunezaki Colony shown here was artificially established in 1995 by attracting birds using decoys and audio devices; photograph by Miwa Konno

Photographs by Naoki Tomita unless stated.

Selected Publications:

Eda, M., Yamasaki, T., Izumi, H., Tomita, N., Konno, S., Konno, M., Murakami, H. & Sato, F. 2020.  Cryptic species in a Vulnerable seabird: short-tailed albatross consists of two species.  Endangered Species Research . 43: 375-386.

Nishizawa, B., Thiebot, J.-B., Sato, F., Tomita, N., Yoda, K., Yamashita, R., Takada, H. & Watanuki, Y. 2021.  Mapping marine debris encountered by albatrosses tracked over oceanic waters.  Scientific Reports  doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-90417-x.

Senzaki, M., Terui, A., Tomita, N., Sato, F., Fukuda, Y., Kataoka, Y. & Watanuki, Y. 2019.  Long-term declines in common breeding seabirds in Japan.  Bird Conservation International: 30: 434-446.

Thiebot, J.-B., Nishizawa, B., Sato, F., Tomita, N. & Watanuki, Y. 2018.  Albatross chicks reveal interactions of adults with artisanal longline fisheries within a short range.  Journal of Ornithology 159: 935-944.  (video of metal detector in use in supplementary material).

Tsukamoto, S., Nishizawa, B., Sato, F. & Tomita, N. & Watanuki, Y.  2019.  Determination of on-water and feeding activities of Black-footed Albatrosses using acceleration and images.  Japanese Journal of Ornithology 68: 29-41.

Naoki Tomita, Division of Avian Conservation, Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, Abiko, Chiba, Japan, 21 January 2022, updated 22 January 2022

From the publication giant petrel skull at the top

Mariana Mazzochi and Caio Carlos (Laboratório de Sistemática e Ecologia de Aves e Mamíferos Marinhos, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil) have published in the journal Polar Biology on the morphology of the skulls of fulmarine petrels, including giant petrels Macronectes spp.

The paper’s abstract follows:

Fulmarine petrels are top predators in the Antarctic region preying mostly on squid, fish, and carrion. Their diets have been widely studied, but less is known about the role of skeletal structures in the processes they use to obtain food. Here, we comparatively describe the skulls of fulmarine petrels, namely, the Giant Petrels (Macronectes), the Southern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialoides), and the Cape Petrel (Daption capense), emphasizing those structures associated with the muscles responsible for opening/closing the jaws. The skull is dorsoventrally flattened and the bill is hooked-tipped and elongated in the studied species, but we found significant differences for relative bill length and relative cranium depth among them. These characteristics can be related to surface seizing and streamlining for diving and pursuing/capturing prey underwater. Longer bills also indicate that the mandible muscles are more posteriorly positioned relative to the bill tip, an adaptation for a fast bite, which is more pronounced in Giant Petrels. Nevertheless, there are broad areas of origin for the mandible muscles in the fossa musculorum temporalium and in the Os palatinum, especially in Giant Petrels. We thus infer that those muscles are well developed and hypothesize that, despite the adaptation for fast movements, their jaws are still capable of a relatively powerful bite. The Giant Petrels and Cape Petrel present a similar pattern of dorsoventral flattening of the skull, an adaptation for diving in pursuit of prey. In Giant Petrels, a flattened skull with a hooked-tipped bill also facilitates their feeding behavior of inserting the bill and head into carcasses for tearing flesh. We conclude that fulmarine petrels present variable morphological characters adapted to the different feeding strategies they employ in the Antarctic and the Southern Ocean.”

Reference:

Mazzochi, M.S. & Carlos, C.J. 2022.  Skull morphology of four Antarctic fulmarine petrels (Aves: Procellariiformes): insights into their feeding biology.  Polar Biology  doi.org/10.1007/s00300-021-02983-5.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 20 January 2022