A total of 282 globally Vulnerable and New Zealand endemic Chatham Albatross Thalassarche eremita chicks has been translocated by the Chatham Islands Taiko Trust from the Pyramid, the species’ sole breeding site, to Point Gap on the main Chatham Island over the last five years in an effort to establish a new breeding colony. The colour-banded chicks were hand fed on fish and squid in the presence of adult decoys and a sound system until they fledged. The last chick of the year-five cohort of 55 who survived out of 60 collected fledged last week. Five chicks were lost to heat stress despite being hosed down on hot, calm days.

According to the Trust’s Facebook page “Over the five seasons 262 chicks [out of 282 collected; 92.9%] have fledged from Point Gap. To achieve this has taken about 18 tonnes of fish and squid and over 14,000 hours of volunteer time! Now, we await the birds return, and hope that they remember their new home, and come back to Point Gap to breed.” One colour-banded bird has already been photographed off South America (click here). “Hopefully the chicks from the first year will start coming back next season.”

The decoys and sound system will be left in place at Point Gap to help attract albatrosses to the site - which will be monitored for returning hand-reared as well as for wild birds. Visits to the Pyramid will also be made to look for any translocated birds that might have returned there instead.

Translocated Chatham Albatross chicks on their bucket nests among adult decoys at Point Gap, photograph from the Chatham Islands Taiko Trust

The project has been supported by funding from The Rata Foundation, Lotteries Grant Board, BirdLife International and The Ornithological Society of New Zealand, along with a number of other organizations and individuals. To read more ALN postings on the project over the last five years click here.

With thanks to the Chatham Islands Taiko Trust.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 24 April 2018

Thomas Clay (British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, United Kingdom) and colleagues have published early view in the journal Functional Ecology on the effects of senescence on foraging and breeding in Vulnerable Wandering Albatrosses Diomedea exulans.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“1. Senescence has been widely documented in wild vertebrate populations, yet the proximate drivers of age‐related declines in breeding success, including allocation trade‐offs and links with foraging performance, are poorly understood. For long‐lived, migratory species, the non‐breeding period represents a critical time for investment in self‐maintenance and restoration of body condition, which in many species is linked to fitness. However, the relationships between age, non‐breeding foraging behaviour and fitness remain largely unexplored.

2. We performed a cross‐sectional study, investigating age‐related variation in the foraging activity, distribution and diet of an extremely long‐lived seabird, the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans, during the non‐breeding period. Eighty‐two adults aged 8 – 33 years were tracked with geolocator‐immersion loggers, and body feathers were sampled for stable isotope analysis. We tested for variation in metrics of foraging behaviour, and linked age‐related trends to subsequent reproductive performance.

3. There was an age‐related decline in the number of landings (a proxy of foraging effort) during daylight hours, and a decrease in body feather δ¹³C values in older males but not females, yet this did not accompany an age‐related shift in distributions. Males conducted fewer landings than females, and the sexes showed some spatial segregation, with males foraging further south, likely due to their differential utilization of winds.

4. Although younger (< 20 years) birds had higher foraging effort, they all went on to breed successfully the following season. In contrast, among older (20+ years) birds, individuals that landed more often were more likely to defer breeding or fail during incubation, suggesting they have lower foraging success.

5. As far as we are aware, this is the first demonstration of an age‐specific carry‐over effect of foraging behaviour in the non‐breeding period on subsequent reproductive performance. This link between foraging behaviour and fitness in late but not early adulthood indicates that the ability of individuals to forage efficiently outside the breeding period may be an important driver of fitness differences in old age.”

Wandering Albatross, photograph by John Chardine

With thanks to Richard Phillips.

Reference:

Clay, T.C., Pearmain, E.J., McGill, R.A.R., Manica, A. & Phillips, R.A. 2018.  Age-related variation in non-breeding foraging behaviour and carry-over effects on fitness in an extremely long-lived bird. Functional Ecology doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13120.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 23 April 2018

Gough Island and its territorial waters in the South Atlantic, a UK Overseas Territory, is a Tristan da Cunha nature reserve, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, an Important Bird & Biodiversity Area (IBBA) and an Endemic Bird Area (EBA), as well as being described as the most important seabird island in the word.  The major threat to biodiversity on Gough Island is the presence of introduced House Mice Mus musculus that prey upon chicks of the Critically Endangered Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena and of several other threatened ACAP-listed seabird species, as has been regularly covered in ACAP Latest News.  An Operational Logistics Manager is now required for the Gough Island Restoration Programme that aims to eradicate the mice next year.

A Tristan Albatross guards its downy chick on Gough Island, photograph by Andrea Angel & Ross Wanless

“Working in partnership with the Tristan da Cunha Island Council, Island Conservation, Birdlife South Africa and the Department of Environmental Affairs in South Africa, the RSPB [Royal Society for the Protection of Birds] is now planning for the implementation of the mouse eradication operation in the Southern Hemisphere winter of 2019.

This is an exciting opportunity for a person experienced in the logistical deployment and management of complex rodent eradications involving aerial baiting. The Operational Logistics Manager will plan and deliver the mouse eradication operation during 2019 (building on planning work carried out in the last two years). He/she will lead on key aspects of the Operational Plan, in agreement with the Programme Manager.

The Operational Logistics Manager will also manage a team of people during the development and delivery phases of the operation. Some members of this team will report directly to the Operational Logistics Manager whilst others will be employed by partner organisations.”

More information on the post and how to apply here. Closing date for applications is 11 May 2018.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 20 April 2018

Lehua, at 126 ha, is one of the smallest islands in the USA’s Hawaiian chain. The uninhabited island supports breeding populations of several seabird species, including ACAP-listed Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes and Laysan P. immutabilis Albatrosses.

Lehua Island is an an eroded tuff cone

The Lehua Island Restoration Project Partnership aims to rid the island of its invasive Polynesian or Pacific Rats Rattus exulans. A second aerial poison bait drop took place last year, after a previous failed attempt (click here).

This second attempt was initially thought to have been successful, with notable improvements in breeding success of monitored seabirds (click here). However, reports of rats surviving then followed: “Recently, remote, motion-activated monitoring camera “traps” picked up three images of what are believed to be two or three rats on the steep and rocky cliff areas on the west and east sides of the island. Analysis of images show definitive proof of one rat” (click here). As a consequence hand-placed traps and poison bait stations have been deployed in the areas with recent sightings.

A Black-footed Albatross pair on Lehua, photograph by Eric Vanderwerf

It is now intended to utilize rat-detection dogs over the next two months. “Once the [rat] scent is identified, the handlers [will] then help the dogs pinpoint the precise areas where rats are located. The dogs are trained and handled to minimize their interactions with native birds”.

Read more here.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 19 April 2018