Eight Great Shearwaters Ardenna gravis (Least Concern) are being satellite-tracked from the vicinity of Cape Cod in the North Atlantic by the USA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Tracks heading into the South Atlantic towards the birds’ breeding sites may be viewed here.  The sanctuary has tracked Great Shearwaters in previous years in order to study the movements, life cycle, and feeding and foraging habits of Great Shearwaters in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem.

“They want to find out what the shearwaters are doing in the Gulf of Maine, where they’re going, and then match up the birds with data on sand lances, water temperatures … .  When they tag the birds they take blood samples and sample the preen glands for toxins.”

Great Shearwater, photograph by John Graham

Read more about the research here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 21 August 2018

UPDATE:  Read a popular article on the study here.

Miho Sakao (Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan) and colleagues have published in the Journal of Ornithology on extra-pair paternity in the globally Near Threatened Streaked Shearwater Calonectris leucomelas.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Seabirds are long-lived birds that invest in offspring at very high levels, for which male parental care is indispensable. These characteristics are thought to explain seabirds’ generally low level of extra-pair paternity (EPP). Although the Streaked Shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas) is a socially monogamous seabird, it is known to copulate outside its social pair bond, which implies the frequent occurrence of EPP. In the closely related Cory’s Shearwater Calonectris borealis, cuckoldry is related to body size of the social male. To determine whether body-size-related EPP occurs among Streaked Shearwaters, we established 39 new microsatellite markers for parentage analysis and compared body size between cuckolded and non-cuckolded males. With the new markers, we found that extra-pair males sired 17 (15.0%) of 113 offspring during the 2014–2016 study period, which included three 1.5-month chick-rearing periods. This percentage is among the highest recorded for seabirds. We also found the bill and wing length of cuckolded males to be significantly shorter than those of non-cuckolded males, and that females can reject attempted copulations. These observations imply that EPP in this species is size related and involves female acceptance.”

Streaked Shearwater

Reference:

Sakao, M., Takeshima, H. Inoue, K. & Sato, K. 2018.  Journal of Ornithology Extra-pair paternity in socially monogamous Streaked Shearwaters: forced copulation or female solicitation?  Journal of Ornithology doi.org/10.1007/s10336-018-1587-3.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 20 August 2018, updated 10 September 2018

Alex Bond (The Natural History Museum, Tring, UK) and colleagues have published open access in the Journal of Ornithology on the likely years of extinction of three breeding birds on Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic.  The Critically Endangered Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena is likely to have been locally extinct (as a breeding species) on the island by 1880, thought due mainly to over-exploitation by the island’s human population.

The paper does not consider the ACAP-listed Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus which has bred on Tristan da Cunha in the past, but no longer does so.  A recent record of a vagrant Tristan Albatross photographed ashore on Tristan is also not mentioned.

The paper's abstract follows:

“The overwhelming majority of avian extinctions have occurred on islands, where introduced predators, habitat loss, disease, and human persecution have resulted in the loss of over 160 species in the last 500 years. Understanding the timing and causes of these historical extinctions can be beneficial to identifying and preventing contemporary biodiversity loss, as well as understanding the nature of island ecosystems. Tristan da Cunha (henceforth “Tristan”), the most remote inhabited island in the world, has lost three species from the main island since permanent human settlement in 1811—the Tristan Moorhen (Gallinula nesiotis), Inaccessible Finch (Nesospiza acunhae acunhae), and Tristan Albatross (Diomedea dabbenena). We used recently developed Bayesian methods, and sightings of mixed certainty compiled from historical documents, to estimate the extinction date of these three species from Tristan based on specimens. We estimate that all three species were likely extirpated from Tristan between 1869 and 1880 following a period of significant habitat alteration and human overexploitation, and only the albatross had a high probability of persistence when Black Rats (Rattus rattus) arrived in 1882, the previously assumed cause of extinction for all three species. Better estimates of extinction dates are essential for understanding the causes of historical biodiversity loss, and the combination of historical ecology with modern statistical methods has given us novel insights into the timing and therefore the causes of extinctions on one of the most isolated islands in the world.”

The Tristan Albatross no longer breeds on Tristan da Cunha, photograph from Gough Island by Kalinka Rexer-Huber

Reference:

Bond, A.L., Carlson, C.J. & Burgio, K.R. 2018.  Local extinctions of insular avifauna on the most remote inhabited island in the world.  Journal of Ornithology.  doi.org/10.1007/s10336-018-1590-8.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 August 2018

The Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service (PWS) is seeking two volunteers as biologists on Australia’s sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, breeding home for seven ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels.

Wandering Albatross chick on Macquarie Island, photograph by Kate Lawrence

PWS is seeking “Expressions of Interest” from suitably qualified people interested in being considered for volunteer biologist roles at Macquarie Island.  Potential participants are requested to submit applications that address the selection criteria.

Up to two successful applicants will be selected to travel to Macquarie Island in November 2018 (timing dependent upon the Australian Antarctic Division shipping schedule).

The successful applicant/s will need to pass Australian Antarctic Division and PWS pre-deployment requirements (including physical and psychological testing), as well as undertake predeparture training that is mandatory for all expeditioners to Macquarie Island, before being confirmed as PWS volunteers.

Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for a copy of the selection criteria and the full Expression of Interest document.

Applications close on 24 August 2018.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 16 August 2016