Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, from the Pacific Islands Avian Health & Disease Program

Camille Lebarbenchon (Université de La Réunion, Sainte-Clotilde, La Réunion, France) and colleagues have published in the open access journal Marine Ornithology on screening two tropical seabirds for viruses and blood parasites

The paper’s abstract follows:

“We investigated Wedge-tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacifica and Barau's Petrel Pterodroma baraui exposure to infectious agents circulating in the western Indian Ocean. Using polymerase chain reaction and serological analyses, we screened for influenza viruses, flaviviruses, coronaviruses, and blood parasites (Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, and Plasmodium). No active infections were detected and serological results suggested limited past exposure, with only two Wedge-tailed Shearwaters testing positive for antibodies to the influenza A virus. These findings indicate the limited role of these species as epidemiological reservoirs. However, environmental factors such as tick infestations and isolated breeding habitats highlight the need for continued epidemiological monitoring to support effective conservation strategies.”

Reference:

Lebarbenchon, C., Toty, C., Boucher, S., Jaeger, A. & Le Corre, M. 2025.  Molecular screening of avian viruses and parasites in Wedge-tailed Shearwaters Ardenna pacifica and Barau’s Petrels Pterodroma baraui on Réunion Island.  Marine Ornithology 53: 261-264.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 23 September 2025

Balearic Shearwater front, Yelkouan Shearwater behind, photograph by Pep Arcos-SEO/BirdLife

George Sangster (Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands) and colleagues have published in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution arguing that differences between the Critically Endangered Balearic Puffinus mauretanicus (ACAP listed) and the Vulnerable Yelkouan or Mediterranean P. yelkouan Shearwaters in genetics, colouration, morphometrics and vocalizations do not represent credible evidence that they are conspecific.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Ferrer Obiol et al. (2023) applied double digest restriction-site associated sequencing (ddRAD-seq) data to delimit species in North Atlantic and Mediterranean Puffinus shearwaters. These authors concluded that the Balearic/Yelkouan shearwaters (P. mauretanicus/P. yelkouan) sister-species pair comprised a single species based on analyses of ddRAD-seq data and a very brief and deficient review of other evidence. While it is clear that reduced representation genomic data are often suitable for the discovery and documentation of species and their relationships, the issue of whether such data are sufficient to falsify hypotheses of species taxa has received only limited attention so far. Here, we note that detection of species in phylogenomic analyses based on reduced representation sequencing methods will be problematic if species differences are only found in a small portion of the genome (so-called ‘genomic islands of differentiation’), as has been documented in multiple case studies. This means that genomic differences between some species may only be detected if (i) entire genomes are sequenced, and (ii) a formal search for islands of differentiation is conducted. Valid species may be overlooked in reduced representation approaches, such as ddRAD sequencing. Consequently, an apparent lack of overall phylogenomic divergence (e.g. lack of reciprocal monophyly, low genome-wide F_ST) should not be used by taxonomists as evidence that such taxa are not valid species. We conclude that the apparent lack of divergence in the ddRAD-seq data of Ferrer Obiol et al. (2023) does not represent credible evidence that P. mauretanicus and P. yelkouan are conspecific. In addition, we s.how that the authors misrepresented other available taxonomic data, failing to properly follow an integrative approach.”

Read a popular account of the publication in Spanish and read ACAP Latest News on the Ferrer Obiol et al. (2023) publication

With thanks to Pep Arcos.

Reference:

Sangster, G., Genovart, M., Guilford, T., Oro, D., Louzao, M., Brooke, M.deL., Arcos, J.M. 2025.  Phylogenomics and the falsification of shearwater species (Puffinus mauretanicus, P. yelkouan) hypotheses: a comment on Ferrer Obiol et al. (2023).  Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 214, 108470.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 22 September 2025

 
New Island supports a very small population of White-chinned Petrels that is at risk to feral cats and introduced rodents

The New Island Restoration Project has recently been awarded further funding through the Darwin Plus scheme as part of the UK Government’s Biodiversity Challenge Funds.

“This vital support enables us to move into the next stage of restoring New Island — attempting to remove invasive mammals and safeguard the island’s unique wildlife and ecosystems for generations to come.  Darwin Plus funding is crucial in making ambitious, large-scale conservation projects possible, turning careful planning into real conservation action on the ground.”

Landsend Bluff, New Island, photograph by Ian Strange

The New Island National Nature Reserve is considered one of the most globally significant wildlife sites in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)* and is in major need of restoration.  Four invasive mammal species, feral cats, European Rabbits, Black Rats and House Mice, threaten the site’s fauna and are degrading the island’s fragile habitats. Their removal is required for recovery and long-term climate resilience and protection of its breeding ACAP-listed Black-browed Albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris and White-chinned Petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis, as well as its many Thin-billed Prions Pachyptila belcheri.

A Black-browed Albatross pair on New Island, photograph by Ian Strange

Read an earlier ACAP news article on the New Island Restoration Project here.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 19 September 2025

*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.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater corpses after the dog attack, photograph from Archipelago Research and Conservation

The Hawaii-based environmental consultancy, Archipelago Research and Conservation (ARC) has recently reported on its Facebook page of a mass killing of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters Ardenna pacifica by dogs on the inhabited island of Kauai.  “Another mass slaughter of 'ua'u kani (Wedge-tailed Shearwater) by dogs, this time on the Maha'ulepu Heritage Trail - at least 8 adults and a chick. Dog owners, please keep your dogs on leash!!”

This is not the first report of dogs killing shearwaters on the island.  In 2017 a stray dog killed 32 Wedge-tailed Shearwaters within the Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands (PMRF). The dog was caught and euthanized.  “Wedgies” on Kauai are also at risk to feral pigs (click here).

Free-roaming dogs have also attacked and killed breeding Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis and their chicks on the island on multiple occasions over the years.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 18 September 2025