A long-term conservation project: “Reintroduction of Black-footed Albatrosses (Phoebastria nigripes) from Midway Atoll National Refuge, USA to Guadalupe Island Biosphere Reserve, Mexico” has been initiated by the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Pacific Rim Conservation (PRC), together with Mexico’s Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP) and the Mexican environmental NGO Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas (GECI).  The globally Near Threatened Black-footed Albatross has been reported  breeding in the past (one chick in 1998) on Isla Guadalupe, some 260 km off the west coast of Baja California.  Since 2000 GECI biologists have recorded sightings of individual Black-footed Albatrosses on the island and its islets and many in surrounding waters, but no breeding has been recorded.  Introduced feral cats are now being removed from the island, thus helping the island’s existing populations of Laysan Albatrosses P. immutabilis and other seabirds.  According to GECI's Federico Méndez Sánchez cat eradication is close to completion; good news for all the island's seabirds, including  reintroduced Black-footed Albatrosses.

A translocated Black-footed Albatross chick with an adult decoy on Isla Guadalupe, photograph by Robby Kohley

The project has recently produced a media release, parts of which follow describing the translocation activities to date and its plans for the future:

“Reintroduction of the Black-footed Albatross is being carried out through the transfer of eggs and chicks from Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge to the Guadalupe Island Biosphere Reserve.  The techniques used in the project are based on the most up-to-date ethical and scientific standards developed and adapted by Pacific Rim Conservation during previous similar projects in the Hawaiian Islands. The Black-footed Albatross eggs will be cross-fostered into Laysan Albatross nests, and the chicks will be hand-raised.  To minimize any impacts to the source population on Midway, the eggs and chicks were collected from nests next to the ocean, where they were at risk of being washed away by high waves."

Mexican and USA members of the reintroduction team on Isla Guadalupe

"The first 21 eggs were flown from Midway to Honolulu by the USFWS on 17 January 2021, and then to San Diego, California by PRC. Then, they were imported into Mexico on 18 January and flown to Guadalupe Island by PRC, GECI and CONANP staff.  The eggs were placed in foster nests of Laysan Albatrosses in which the natural egg was infertile.  In early February, 18 of the 21 eggs hatched, representing an 86% hatching success rate, similar to the rate in natural Laysan Albatross nests on Guadalupe and in other inter-island translocation projects in Hawaii by PRC.

On 18 February, nine Black-footed Albatross chicks were imported from Midway and arrived in Mexico and were successfully released on Guadalupe, where they will be raised by a team of biologists and veterinarians from PRC and GEC.  The 27 Black-footed Albatross chicks are expected to fledge from Guadalupe in June.  For the next couple of years (2022-2023), the binational team aims to move up to 42 eggs and 25 chicks per year in order to have at least 100 individuals to form the new breeding colony on Guadalupe."

A Black-footed Albatross chick being fostered by a pair of Laysan Albatrosses on Isla Guadalupe, photograph by J.A. Soriano, GECI

"Because Black-footed Albatrosses are faithful to the place where they hatched or were raised from a young age it is expected that this generation of chicks will return to nest on Guadalupe when they are mature.  The reintroduction of Black-footed Albatrosses is a long-term project because albatrosses are long-lived; they will spend their first few years at sea continuously and are expected to begin returning to Guadalupe in three to five years and to begin nesting there in eight to nine years.”

ACAP Latest News will follow the project with interest and bring readers further news as it becomes available.  For a Spanish version of the media release please contact GECI's  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; see also a report on the reintroduction exercise in Spanish here and watch a news video, also in Spanish, with informative still photos of the translocation exercise included.

With thanks to Federico Méndez Sánchez, Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas and Eric Vanderwerf, Pacific Rim Conservation.

Reference:

Pitman, R.L. & Balance, L.T. 2002.  The changing status of marine birds breeding at San Benedicto Island, Mexico.  Wilson Bulletin 114: 11-19.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 March 2021

Illustration from the Freeman Seabird Preserve website

David Hyrenbach (Hawai‘i Pacific University) and Michelle Hester (Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge) study Wedge-tailed Shearwaters or 'Ua'u kani Ardenna pacifica; Least Concern) in the Freeman Seabird Preserve on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. They write of the most recent breeding season in the Hawaii Audubon Society journal ‘Elepaio:

“We report on the ongoing monitoring and restoration efforts of the Freeman Seabird Preserve by Hawaii Audubon Society and Hawai‘i Pacific University since 2009, share findings from the 2020 breeding season, and briefly discuss the plans for future monitoring, habitat restoration, and predator control at the site.  This year we documented 358 active nests.  This year’s nest count is the highest to date, surpassing the previous peak documented in 2019.”

A Wedge-tailed Shearwater chick inside a ceramic nest, photograph by David Hyrenbach

Breeding performance in occupied ceramic nests for the second year since their establishment was similar to that of existing natural and roof tile nests in the preserve (80.0 % (8/10) in the ceramic nests and 72.7% (48/66) in the control nests).  Additional restoration and management efforts in 2021 will involve monitoring the colony and enhancing breeding habitat.

Read more on the ceramic nests and on the 2019 breeding season here.

Reference:

Hyrenbach, K.D. & Hester, M. 2021.  2020 shearwater nesting at Freeman Seabird Preserve: highest breeding pairs, average chick success, and increasing occupation of ceramic homes.  ‘Elepaio 81(2): 13-14.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 17 March 2021

“Painting Petrels in Peril” poster by Kitty Harvill

During January and February this year ACAP collaborated with Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) on its 35th Project entitled “Painting Petrels in Peril” to paint or draw the nine ACAP-listed petrels and shearwaters (click here).  The petrel project followed on from ACAP’s first – and successful - collaboration with ABUN last year to produce artworks of the world’s 22 species of albatrosses in support of the inaugural World Albatross Day on 19 June.  The 2021 petrel project resulted in over one hundred artworks produced by 50 ABUN artists, roughly half of which may be viewed on this website, along with posters suitable for downloading and printing.

“Painting Petrels in Peril” video, design by Kitty Harvill, music by John Nicolosi

To round off the project, ABUN’s Co-founder, Kitty Harvill has used the artworks and photos to produce a collage poster and a video, the latter with evocative music by John Nicolosi of Niko Records Studio accompanying 105 petrel artworks

View the music video featuring albatross artworks and photos produced by Kitty and John for ABUN Project #30 in 2020.

With grateful thanks to Kitty Harvill, Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature, John Nicolosi, Niko Records Studio and all the artists and photographers who contributed to the poster and video.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 16 March 2021

Amsterdam Albatross by Lea Finke, Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature

Adrien Pajot (Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Villiers‐en‐Bois, France) and colleagues have written in the Journal of Avian Biology on development of foraging activity in juvenile Amsterdam Diomedea amsterdamensis and Wandering D. exulans Albatrosses.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The first year of life is a period of high mortality in animals. Reduced foraging capacities of naive individuals might be the primary cause of their mortality. These capacities are supposed to be progressively acquired during the first months of life. In this study, we investigate the ontogeny of flight capacities, by day and night, of first‐year individuals, and compare it with adults from two closely related species of great albatrosses: Amsterdam Diomedea amsterdamensis and wandering Diomedea exulans albatrosses which forage in different environmental conditions. We used 71 tracks of 71 juvenile birds and 141 of 116 incubating adults to compare both age categories. In order to explore the effect of moon light on night activity, we elaborated a new formula which improves the precision of the proxy of moon illumination. By day, we found that juveniles of both species reach some adult foraging capacities in less than two months. By night, albatrosses have reduced activity increasing during the first weeks at sea for juveniles and changing in accordance with moon illumination for both juveniles and adults. A peak of flight activity at dawn and dusk was apparent for both species. Interspecific comparison underlined that Amsterdam albatrosses were more active than wandering albatrosses, suggesting a difference in food and foraging strategy. Overall, we highlighted how life history traits, environmental conditions and time of the day affect the foraging activity of two related species of seabirds.”

Reference:

Pajot, A., Corbeau, A., Jambon, A. & Weimerskirch, H. 29021.  Diel at‐sea activity of two species of great albatrosses: the ontogeny of foraging and movement behaviour. Journal of Avian Biology  doi.org/10.1111/jav.02597.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 15 March 2021