Chris Jones (FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, South Africa) and colleagues have published a short note in the journal Antarctic Science on what appears to be the first record of a procellariiform seabird feeding on a prey item at its nest whilst still incubating.

An extract from the short note follows:

“Pelagic seabirds often nest on islands that are far from productive foraging areas.  The Procellariiformes (petrels, shearwaters and albatrosses) are among the longest-ranging seabirds; they have several adaptations that permit them to efficiently utilize distant foraging areas and fast for long periods during incubation (Phillips & Hamer 1999).  Giant petrels (Macronectes spp.) are large surface-nesting procellariiforms.  They feed both by direct predation and by scavenging carrion, and they are the largest avian predator-scavengers in the Southern Ocean. Among procellariiform seabirds, one partner forages while their mate remains on the nest to incubate their single egg (Warham 1990).  Northern giant petrels (Macronectes halli) have incubation shifts lasting up to 17 days (Cooper et al. 2001). In general, incubating procellariiform seabirds do not feed during their shift (Warham 1990). We report the first case to our knowledge of a procellariiform seabird, a northern giant petrel, actively feeding at its nest whilst incubating.

An incubating Northern Giant Petrel feeds on a Salvin's Prion on Marion Island, photograph from Chris Jones

The note is dedicated to the memory of David Walton, Antarctic Science’s inaugural and long-standing Chief Editor, who passed away suddenly on 12 February 2019 at the age of 73 (click here).

Reference:

Jones, C.W., Risi, M.M. & Cooper, J. 2019.  An incubating northern giant petrel actively feeds on a Salvin's prion.  Antarctic Science doi:10.1017/S0954102019000415.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 15 November 2019

UPDATE:

As of 13 November, Midway's Short-tailed Albatross pair is incubating a new egg.

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On 23 October this year two globally Vulnerable Short-tailed Albatrosses Phoebastria albatrus were seen back on Midway Atoll in the North Pacific.  The pair, named George and Geraldine, bred on Midway’s Sand Island for the first time in the previous (2018/19) season.

“George, the male of the pair, a bird in adult plumage, has been visiting Midway Atoll since November 2006 (when known as “Lonesome George”).  He hatched from the colony on Japan’s Torishima in 2003 and was banded there as a chick.  Geraldine, an assumed younger bird, is still in sub-adult plumage and is suspected to be an individual that was banded on Torishima in April 2008.  She was first observed on Sand Island in early 2012.  The two birds were first seen together on the island in late 2016” (click here).  This first breeding attempt is considered to have be successful; the downy chick being banded in May (click here).

Geraldine (left) and George on Sand Island, Midway Atoll in 2018, photograph by Madalyn Riley

Watch a video clip by Joey Latsha of the male George ashore.

“Previously, a different pair of Short-tailed Albatrosses has bred successfully three times in four years on Midway's Eastern Island within the atoll, fledging several chicks, the last one in 2014” (click here).

Read more about the two Short-tailed Albatrosses previous activities on Midway here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 07 November 2019

Cerren Richards (Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John’s, Canada) and colleagues have published open access in the journal PeerJ on rafting by Manx Shearwaters Puffinus puffinus around the Welsh island of Skomer.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Before visiting or leaving their remote island colonies, seabirds often engage in a behaviour termed ‘rafting’, where birds sit, often in groups, on the water close to the colony. Despite rafting being a widespread behaviour across many seabird taxa, the functional significance of rafting remains unknown. Here we combine global positioning system (GPS) tracks, observational and wind condition data to investigate correlates of rafting behaviour in Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus) at a large colony on Skomer Island, Wales. We test (1) the influence of wind direction on rafting location and (2) whether raft size changes with respect to wind speed. Our approach further allows us to describe day-night trends in (3) raft distance from shore through time; (4) the number of birds present in the nearshore waters through time; and (5) spatial patterns of Manx shearwater rafts in marine waters adjacent to the breeding colony. We find no evidence that wind direction, for our study period, influences Manx shearwater rafting location, yet raft size marginally increases on windier days. We further find rafting birds closer to the shore at night than during the day. Thus, before sunset, birds form a “halo” around Skomer Island, but this halo disappears during the night as more individuals return from foraging trips and raft nearer the colony on Skomer Island. The halo pattern reforms before sunrise as rafts move away from land and birds leave for foraging. Our results suggest that wind conditions may not be as ecologically significant for rafting locations as previously suspected, but rafting behaviour may be especially important for avoiding predators and cleaning feathers.”

Manx Shearwater on the sea surface, photograph by Nathan Fletcher

Reference:

Richards, C., Padget, O., Guilford, T. & Bates, A.E. 2019.  Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) rafting behaviour revealed by GPS tracking and behavioural observations. PeerJ 7: e7863 doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7863.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 14 November 2019

Rhiannon Austin (National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Scientific Reports on movements of Puffinus shearwaters endemic to the Mediterranean.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Patterns of behavioural variation and migratory connectivity are important characteristics of populations, particularly at the edges of species distributions, where processes involved in influencing evolutionary trajectories, such as divergence, mutual persistence, and natural hybridization, can occur. Here, we focused on two closely related seabird species that breed in the Mediterranean: Balearic shearwaters (Puffinus mauretanicus) and Yelkouan shearwaters (Puffinus yelkouan). Genetic and phenotypic evidence of hybridization between the two species on Menorca (the eastern and westernmost island in the breeding ranges of the two shearwaters, respectively) has provided important insights into relationships between these recently diverged species. Nevertheless, levels of behavioural and ecological differentiation amongst these populations remain largely unknown. Using geolocation and stable isotopes, we compared the at-sea movement behaviour of birds from the Menorcan ‘hybrid’ population with the nearest neighbouring populations of Balearic and Yelkouan shearwaters. The Menorcan population displayed a suite of behavioural features intermediate to those seen in the two species (including migration strategies, breeding season movements and limited data on phenology). Our findings provide new evidence to support suggestions that the Menorcan population is admixed, and indicate a role of non-breeding behaviours in the evolutionary trajectories of Puffinus shearwaters in the Mediterranean.”

Comparison of the non-breeding at-sea distributions of Mallorcan (Balearic), Menorcan (hybrid) and Yelkouan Shearwater populations – from the publication

Reference:

Austin, R.E., Wynn, R.B., Votier, S.C., Trueman, C., McMinn, M., Rodríguez, A., Suberg, L., Maurice, L., Newton, J., Genovart, M., Péron, C., Grémillet, D. & Guilford, T. 2019.  Patterns of at-sea behaviour at a hybrid zone between two threatened seabirds.  Scientific Reports 9, 14720. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-51188-8.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 13 November 2019