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Nataly Hidalgo Aranzamendi (Colección Científica del Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacionalde San Agustín, Departamento de Ornitología, Arequipa, Perú) and Giovana Chipana Incacuña have looked at seabird populations in southern Peruvian waters, publishing in Spanish in the journal Cientifica.

Species observed at sea included ACAP-listed Black-browed Thalassarche melanophris and Salvin’s T. salvini Albatrosses, both the species of giant petrels Macronectes spp. and the White-chinned Petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis, and two ACAP potential candidate species, the Pink-footed Shearwater Puffinus creatopus and the Peruvian Diving Petrel Pelecanoides garnotii.

The paper’s English abstract follows:

“Marine birds are key components of pelagic ecosystems, especially in the Peruvian current system, which is one of the most productive and where many migratory species look for resources, foraging in some reduced areas with high concentration of prey. We monitored a pelagic area located 15 miles from the coast of Tacna region for a year (2008- 2009) with transects that covered 40 km² approximately, counting all individuals of marine birds present. Forty-four species belonging to 13 families were recorded. Fifty percent of these species were residents, while 30 and 20% were austral and boreal migrants respectively. The species with higher densities were Phalacrocorax bougainvillii and Sula variegata, also Puffinus griseus and Pelecanoides garnotii were recorded with high numbers. Due to the standardized and constant monitoring, these estimates constitute important numeric records generally higher than other previous estimates obtained for this region. It is important to highlight the relevance of this littoral zone as a protected area for conservation, due to the resources present and the imminent threat that constitutes industrial fishing in large scale around the studied area.”

Pink-footed Shearwater: proposed for ACAP listing by Chile

Reference:

Hidalgo Aranzamendi, N. & Chipana Incacuña, G. 2012. Densidad, estacionalidad y estado de conservación de las aves marinas en la región Tacna [Density, seasonality and conservation status of marine birds in Tacna region, south Peru. Científica 9: 225-239.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 16 March 2013