Alice Carravieri (Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé, Université de La Rochelle, France) and colleagues have published in the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology Ecological and Evolutionary Approaches on physiological experiments conducted on free-living Streaked Shearwaters Calonectris leucomelas.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) provide noninvasive measures of the relative activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which promotes self-maintenance and restoration, and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which prepares an animal for danger. The PNS decreases HR, whereas the SNS increases HR.   The PNS and SNS also contribute to oscillations in heartbeat intervals at different frequencies, producing HRV.  HRV promotes resilience and adjustment capacity in the organism to intrinsic and extrinsic changes.  Measuring HRV can reveal the condition and emotional state of animals, including aspects of their stress physiology.  Until now, the functioning of the PNS and SNS and their relationship with other physiological systems have been studied almost exclusively in humans.  In this study, we tested their influence on HR and HRV for the first time in a wild-caught seabird, the streaked shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas).  We analyzed electrocardiograms collected from birds carrying externally attached HR loggers and that received injections that pharmacologically blocked the PNS, the SNS, or both, as well as those that received a saline (sham) injection or no injection (control).   The PNS strongly dominated modulation of HR and also HRV across all frequencies, whereas the SNS contributed only slightly to low-frequency oscillations. The saline injection itself acted as a stressor, causing a dramatic drop in PNS activity in HRV and an increase in HR, though PNS activity continued to dominate even during acute stress.  Dominant PNS activity is expected for long-lived species, which should employ physiological strategies that minimize somatic deterioration coming from stress.”

Streaked Shearwater

Reference:

Carravieri, A., Müller, M.S., Yoda, K., Hayama, S. & Yamamoto, M. 2016.  Dominant parasympathetic modulation of heart rate and heart rate variability in a wild-caught seabird.  Physiological and Biochemical Zoology Ecological and Evolutionary Approaches  DOI: 10.1086/686894.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 01 July 2016

Ana Isabel Fagundes (Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal) and colleagues have published in the journal Zoology on aspects of the breeding biology of the Macaronesian Shearwater Puffinus lherminieri baroli.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The breeding success of burrow-nesting seabirds may be influenced by both nest site characteristics and oceanographic conditions influencing food availability at sea.  In this study we describe the breeding biology of the winter-breeding Macaronesian shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri baroli), including nest site characteristics and interspecific competition.  We also evaluate the possible effects of changing oceanographic conditions on breeding phenology and breeding success.  The study was carried out over two breeding seasons on two islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, Cima Islet and Selvagem Grande.  Oceanographic characteristics differed between years.  On a regional scale, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index was low and negative in 2011, and on a local scale, birds used areas with significantly lower values of chlorophyll a concentration and significantly higher values of sea surface temperature anomalies.  Hatching success was higher in 2012 than in 2011.  At both colonies, egg cracking was the main cause of hatching failure, but in 2011 several eggs on Selvagem Grande were deserted.  In 2012 birds laid earlier and chicks had longer wings and were heavier.  At both colonies, nests that were deeper, were sheltered from prevailing winds and had small chambers and a soil substrate had a higher probability of being used successfully by the birds.  Nests occupied solely by Macaronesian shearwaters were much deeper and had less volume than nests shared with other species.  Our study suggests that the breeding success of Macaronesian shearwaters is strongly related to nest site characteristics and that at-sea environmental conditions exert a strong influence on reproductive parameters, with birds breeding in a poor year (evaluated in terms of lower marine productivity) laying much later and their chicks growing at a slower rate than in a good year.  The influence of nest site characteristics and environmental conditions may be very important for understanding the breeding ecology of Procellariiformes and may help explain the negative population trend of Macaronesian shearwaters.”

Macaronesian Shearwater, photograph by Luis Ferreira

Reference:

Fagundes, A.I., Ramos, J.A., Ramos, U., Medeiros, R. & Paiva, V.H. 2016.  Breeding biology of a winter-breeding procellariiform in the North Atlantic, the Macaronesian shearwater Puffinus lherminieri baroli.  Zoology doi:10.1016/j.zool.2016.05.014.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 30 June 2016

Gustavo Jiménez-Uzcátegui (Department of Sciences, Charles Darwin Foundation, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos, Ecuador) and colleagues have published a short communication in the open-access journal Marine Ornithology on the longevity of Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata based on recaptures of banded birds.

Of 296 recaptured adults on Española Island, Galápagos in 2015 four banded as chicks, and thus of known age, were from 37.7 to 40.8 years old.

Waved Albatross with a hatching egg, photograph by Kathryn Huyvaert 

Reference:

Jiménez-Uzcátegui, G., Harris, M.P., Sevilla, C.R. & Huyvaert, K.P. 2016.  Longevity records for the Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata.  Marine Ornithology 44: 133-134.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 29 June 2016

According to on-line dictionaries consulted the expression “Holy Moley” first recorded in 1892 is a euphemism for "Holy Mary", Molly being a nickname for Mary.  The rhyming interjection is used to express surprise or astonishment.  In the Hawaiian language Mōlī is a Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis.  Showing a deft and whimsical touch, author Hob Osterlund combines the expression with the bird to create the title for her book that takes the reader on two entwined journeys: her own since childhood and the breeding cycle of backyard Laysan Albatrosses on her Hawaiian island home of Kaua'i.

Hob is a former Clinical Nurse Specialist who retired from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii and there encountered - and fell in love with - the Laysan Albatrosses of Kaua'i.  On this island the birds breed in the community of Princeville and elsewhere in the north-east of the island, laying their eggs and rearing chicks in the gardens of private houses and on golf courses.  Apart from the occasional rampages of domestic dogs and depredations by feral cats (click here), the birds are well looked after by the residents.

The albatrosses Hob observes are given names and sometimes assigned with emotions normally reserved for humans, such as love, tenderness and heartbreak – for example in the case of a hatchling called Paki.  So the book is not one to read for scientific observations but given a warm day on a North Pacific island with a hammock and a cooling breeze her lyrical writing should pass a pleasant hour or so.  Or read it with enjoyment during a southern winter as I did under a cosy blanket!

As well as being a writer of some skill and empathy, Hob is an accomplished photographer, as shown by her photos in this review and here.  A pity then that her photos in Holy Mōlī are all in black and white, with that look of having been converted from colour originals.  But colour does add to cost and her cover photo of a Laysan Albatross pair is an attractive one.  The author founded the Kaua‘i Albatross Network which is “dedicated to helping preserve the vitality of the Laysan albatross and promoting safe habitat on which this magnificent bird depends”.

Laysans also breed in the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge on Kaua’i.  The island is home to a livestreaming “albiecam” pointed at an albatross nest (click here).

The "albiecam" on Kaua'i.  All photographs by Hob Osterlund

I have been to Kaua’i and viewed breeding Laysan Albatrosses on Midway and Oahu during four separate visits to the Hawaiian Islands.  Seems I now need to go back for a fifth visit to meet Hob, a fellow albatross enthusiast and (unlike myself) a talented author.

With thanks to Hob Osterlund, who writes evocatively on her Facebook page:

“Thinking about similes related to animals.  Busy as a bee.  Happy as a clam.  Blind as a bat.  Silly as a goose.  Drunk as a skunk.  Free as a bird.  So what could we say about albatross, if a mood to draft similes (or alliteratives*) suddenly strikes us on a summer solstice?  There are a dozen stellar qualities we could choose from, but dominant among them is the impression of an almost meditative serenity.  It’s a great state to be in if [you] have to wait weeks for your meals and months for your feathers.  Patient as a ʻtross.  Mellow as an albie.  Holy as a mōlī.”

*alliterations

Reference:

Osterlund, H. 2016.  Holy Mōlī: Albatross and other Ancestors.  Corvallis: Oregon State University Press.  147 pp.  ISBN 978-0-87071-849-9.  Soft cover, illustrated with 22 black & white photographs.  US$ 18.95.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 28 June 2016