The New Zealand NGO Forest & Bird has reported that 14 shearwaters were found mutilated and dumped near Ruakaka in New Zealand in October.  Thirteen recently categorized Near Threatened Flesh-footed Shearwaters Ardenna carneipes and one Near Threatened Sooty Shearwater A. grisea reportedly had their throats slit, skulls smashed and wings broken.

“Forest and Bird says the birds may have been caught in a beach-based long line.  The way the birds had been dumped indicated they had been poured out of a fish bin.”

Flesh-footed Shearwater at sea, photograph by Tim Reid

Click here for more information.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 04 January 2017

The results are in for the annual census of Laysan Phoebastria immutabilis and Black-footed P. nigripes Albatrosses on Kure Atoll in the North-Western Hawaiian islands.

A mixed colony of Black-footed and Laysan Albatrosses

“We had an increase of about 11 000 Laysan Albatrosses and a few more Black-footed Albatrosses from last year. This year, we counted a total of 35 360 mōlī [Laysans] and 3381 kaʻupu [Black-foots].”

It is assumed the count was of incubating birds since nest contents were checked: “As I went to confirm whether or not an albatross was sitting on an egg, I found one sitting on a light bulb, another on a golf ball, and a few sitting on two eggs.”

The census took a team of five working for the non-profit foundation Kure Atoll Conservancy six days to complete.

Read more here for the 2016 count and here for the 2013 count.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 03 January 2017

A pair of Vulnerable Short-tailed Albatrosses Phoebastria albatrus has been photographed on Sand Island, part of the Midway National Wildlife Refuge (click here) .

Sand Island's Short-tailed Albatross pair, photograph by Wieteke Holthuijzen 

Previously, a pair of Short-tailed Albatrosses has bred successfully on Midway's Eastern Island within the atoll, fledging several chicks (click here).  Short-tails have been recorded singly on Sand Island before but breeding has not yet been observed.

“Refuge staff are hopeful that this pair may produce an egg this season”.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 02 January 2017

Stephanie Borrelle (Institute for Applied Ecology New Zealand, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand) and colleagues has published in the journal Oryx on how well seabirds recover after their islands are freed of invasive predators.

The paper’s abstract follows:
“Protecting seabirds is a global conservation priority given that 29% of seabird species are threatened with extinction. One of the most acute threats to seabirds is the presence of introduced predators, which depredate seabirds at all life stages, from eggs to adults. Consequently, eradication of invasive predators has been identified as an effective and commonly used approach to seabird conservation. Seabird recovery following the eradication of predators is influenced by complex and interacting environmental and demographic factors, and there are gaps in our understanding of species-specific responses. We reflect on the recovery of seabirds on islands cleared of predators, drawing on the equilibrium theory of island biogeography, and synthesize key influences on recovery reported in the literature. We present a regionally specific case study on the recovery of seabird colonies (n = 98) in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, which is a hotspot of seabird diversity (27 species), with a long history of eradications of invasive predators. We found that on islands cleared of predators seabirds recover over time, and such islands have more diverse seabird assemblages than islands that never had predators. Recovery appears to be influenced by a suite of site- and species-specific factors. Managers may assume that given enough time following eradication of predators, seabirds will recolonize an island. Although time is a factor, proximity to source populations and human activities has a significant effect on recolonization by seabirds, as do demographic traits, colonizing ability and habitat suitability. Therefore, integrating expected site and species-specific recovery responses in the planning of eradications should help guide post-eradication management actions.”

House Mice have killed this Atlantic Petrel chick on Gough Island, photograph by Ross Wanless

Reference:

Borrelle, S.B.,Boersch-Supan, P.H.,Gaskin, C.P. & Towns, D.R. 2016.  Influences on recovery of seabirds on islands where invasive predators have been eradicated, with a focus on Procellariiformes.  Oryx doi.org/10.1017/S0030605316000880.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 30 December 2016