Christmas Shearwater, photograph from US Fish & Wildlife Service

Ilana Nimz (Hawai‘i Pacific University, Waimanalo, Hawaii, USA) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Marine Ornithology on diving behaviour in Christmas Shearwaters Puffinus nativitatis.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The Christmas Shearwater Puffinus nativitatis is an aquatic, tropical shearwater. While individuals of this species are known to forage by pursuit plunging and diving, there are no published reports quantifying their sub-surface foraging behavior. We obtained diving information from eight chick-rearing Christmas Shearwaters on Kure Atoll during June-August 2017. Over the 33 days during which instruments were deployed, 1521 dives were recorded. Individual deployments lasted three to eight days and were independent of the maximum depths recorded. Individual maximum depths were 10.7-24.1 m, averaging 15.4 m. While the deepest and longest recorded dive reached 24.1 m and lasted 31 s, the majority of dives were < 3.0 m deep (64%) and lasted ≤ 3.0 s (53%). Overall, deeper dives were longer. Almost all diving occurred during daylight, with peak diving activity (13%) occurring between 17h00 and 18h00 (dusk). Genetic metabarcoding identified digested prey items from regurgitations, distinguishing 11 species of fish and squid. This study highlights the way in which this species of concern uses the epipelagic foraging habitat within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.”

Reference:

Nimz, I., Renshaw, M.A, Iacchei, M., Vanderwerf, E., Vanderlip, C., Saunter, M., Worcester, N. & Hyrenbach, K.D. 2021.  Underwater behavior of Christmas Shearwaters Puffinus nativitatis from Kure Atoll.  Marine Ornithology  49: 25-35.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 30 March 2021

A breeding Southern Giant Petrel on Gough Island, photograph by Michelle Risi

Brazilian-based artist Kitty Harvill has produced a short video for the Albatross and Petrel Agreement featuring still photographs of the nine ACAP-listed petrels and shearwaters, with accompanying music.  An expanded version of the music video is in the wings featuring photographs of all 31 species of ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels, planned to be ready for showing by World Albatross Day on 19 June.  Meanwhile enjoy the photographers’ work and the music put together by Kitty.

View also two music videos featuring paintings by members of Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) produced last year on albatrosses and this year on petrels by Kitty Harvill and John Nicolosi of Niko Records Studio.

With thanks to Kitty Harvill and the eight photographers for their pro bono support of ACAP’s awareness-raising activities.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 29 March 2021

Newell's Shearwater, photograph by Lindsay Young

Lindsay Young (Pacific Rim Conservation, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA) and colleagues have published on hand rearing translocated chicks of the Critically Endangered Newell’s Shearwater Puffinus newelli and Endangered Hawaiian Petrel Pterodroma sandwichensis within a predator-proof fence on the Hawaiian island of Kauai as part of the Nihoku Ecosystem Restoration Project.

An extract from the chapter’s Introduction follows:

“The Critically Endangered Newell’s shearwater (Puffinus newelli) and the Endangered Hawaiian petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis) are Hawaii’s only endemic seabirds.  Both species are rapidly declining due to collisions with power lines, light attraction, predation by invasive feral mammals and introduced Barn owls and habitat degradation by feral ungulates and invasive plants. Given the challenges in protecting nesting birds in their rugged, montane habitat, it has long been desirable to create protected populations of both species in more accessible locations. Translocation has been part of recovery planning since 1983 and translocation to predator exclusion fences was ranked as the highest priority action in the interagency five year Action Plan for Newell’s shearwater and Hawaiian petrel.”

The publication concludes:

The translocation aspect (removal of chicks from natal burrows and hand rearing until fledging) was highly successful, with fledging rates of 100% for Newell’s shearwater (N=67/67) and 98% for Hawaiian petrel (N=87/90).  It is still too early to determine ultimate success, which would entail recruitment of breeding individuals to the release site.”

Hawaiian Petrel

Reference:

Young, L.C., Kohley, C.R., Dalton, M., Knight, M., VanderWerf, E.A., Fowlke, L., Dittmar, E., Raine, A.F., Vynne, M., Nevins, H., Hall, S. & Mitchell, M. 2021.  Translocation of Newell’s shearwaters and Hawaiian petrels to create new colonies on Kaua`i, Hawai`i, USA.  In: Soorae, P.S. (Ed.).  Global Conservation Translocation Perspectives: 2021. Case Studies from around the Globe.  Gland: IUCN SSC Conservation Translocation Specialist Group.  pp. 98-102.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 28 March 2021

Black-browed Albatross, Macquarie Island, photograph by Melanie Wells

Jaimie Cleeland (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science on threats facing Black-browed Thalassarche melanophris, Grey-headed T. chrysostoma, Light-mantled Phoebetria palpebrata and Wandering Diomedea exulans Albatrosses breeding on Australia’s sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Climate change, fisheries and invasive species represent three pervasive threats to seabirds, globally. Understanding the relative influence and compounding nature of marine and terrestrial threats on the demography of seabird communities is vital for evidence-based conservation. Using 20 years of capture-mark-recapture data from four sympatric species of albatross (black-browed Thalassarche melanophris, grayheaded T. chrysostoma, light-mantled Phoebetria palpebrata and wandering Diomedea exulans) at subantarctic Macquarie Island, we quantified the temporal variability in survival, breeding probability and success. In three species (excluding the wandering albatross because of their small population), we also assessed the influence of fisheries, oceanographic and terrestrial change on these rates. The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) explained 20.87–29.38% of the temporal variability in survival in all three species and 22.72–28.60% in breeding success for black-browed and gray-headed albatross, with positive SAM events related to higher success. The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Index explained 21.14–44.04% of the variability in survival, with higher survival rates following La Niña events. For black-browed albatrosses, effort in south-west Atlantic longline fisheries had a negative relationship with survival and explained 22.75–32.21% of the variability. Whereas increased effort in New Zealand trawl fisheries were related to increases in survival, explaining 21.26–28.29 % of variability. The inclusion of terrestrial covariates, reflecting extreme rainfall events and rabbit-driven habitat degradation, explained greater variability in trends breeding probability than oceanographic or fisheries covariates for all three species. These results indicate managing drivers of demographic trends that are most easily controlled, such as fisheries and habitat degradation, will be a viable option for some species (e.g., black-browed albatross) but less effective for others (e.g., light-mantled albatross). Our results illustrate the need to integrate fisheries, oceanographic and terrestrial processes when assessing demographic variability and formulating the appropriate management response.”

With thanks to Barry Baker.

Reference:

Cleeland, J.B., Pardo, D., Raymond, B., Tuck, G.N., McMahon, C.R., Phillips, R.A., Alderman, R., Lea, M.-A. & Hindell, M.A. 2021.  Disentangling the influence of three major threats on the demography of an albatross community.  Frontiers in Marine Science doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.578144.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 27 March 2021