Peter Fretwell (British Antarctic Survey, Madingley Road, Cambridge, UK) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Remote Sensing of Environment on identifying seabird colonies by using the spectral signature of guano from satellite imagery.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Despite the threats faced by seabirds in both terrestrial and marine habitats, even basic knowledge of the locations of colonies, population sizes and trends is lacking for many remote areas of the world.  Recent studies have shown that the guano of Adélie penguins can be identified from Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) imagery and used to map colonies on coasts around continental Antarctica.  Our study highlights a new technique based on the unique spectral signature of guano that can be used to discriminate seabird colonies from background geology and vegetation in a wider range of natural environments, including the vegetated and zoologically-diverse region of the Antarctic Peninsula; moreover, the method was effective for all densely colonial, surface-nesting seabirds.  Using Landsat ETM imagery, we correctly identified all known seabird colonies of over 50 pairs in the area of Marguerite Bay.  Almost all other areas with a similar spectral signature that were outside known breeding areas were single pixels that were readily distinguishable from genuine colonies. If these were excluded, only 4.1% of pixels appeared to represent unknown breeding or roosting sites, and warrant further investigation.  The spatial extent of the guano provided a general guide to the number of individuals present, but further work would be required to determine the accuracy of this method for estimating population size.  Spectral profiles of guano collected by satellite and hand-held spectrometers were compared with available data in spectral libraries and did not match with any known geological profile.  There may also be potential for discriminating colonies of different species that differ in phenology and show seasonal changes in diet by the carefully-timed acquisition of suitable satellite imagery.  We conclude that the remotely-sensed guano signature is a good indicator of the location of seabird breeding or roosting sites, with potentially wide application to other areas of the world.”

Southern Giant Petrel in Antarctica, photograph by Michael Dunn

Click here for a news story on the research.

Reference:

Fretwell, P.T., Phillips, R.A., Brooke, M.deL., Fleming, A.H. & McArthur, A. 2015.  Using the unique spectral signature of guano to identify unknown seabird colonies.  Remote Sensing of Environment 156: 448-456.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 15 January 2015

Leandro Bugoni (College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK) and colleagues have published in the journal Antarctic Science on moult of three procellariiform species in the south-west Atlantic off Brazil.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Primary, tail and body moult of three seabirds from Tristan da Cunha archipelago were studied by castnetting offshore south Brazil from February 2006 to August 2007.  Timing, duration and synchronization of primary and tail moult are described relative to the annual calendar.  Body moult overlapped breeding in Atlantic yellow-nosed albatrosses (Thalassarche chlororhynchos), but tail and primary moult did not.  Spectacled petrels (Procellaria conspicillata) had protracted body moult, whereas primary and tail moult were completed by August.  We documented onset of primary moult during chick-rearing in spectacled petrels and great shearwaters (Puffinus gravis) of unknown breeding status, and suggest that the south-west Atlantic Ocean holds important numbers of moulting birds of both species during the summer–early autumn. The albatrosses and the spectacled petrels replaced rectrices alternately. Great shearwaters replaced rectrices outward, starting at the central pair.  Primary, tail and body moult largely overlap in all three species, suggesting that the metabolic costs of primary moult may not be overly restrictive.  Metabolic and nutritional ability to afford simultaneous moult of different feather tracts support the idea that impaired flight caused by wing moult is a strong factor driving no overlap of primary moult and breeding.”

Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross, photograph by Peter Ryan

Reference:

Bugoni, L., Naves, L.C.& Furness, R.W. 2015.  Moult of three Tristan da Cunha seabird species sampled at sea.  Antarctic Science doi.org/10.1017/S0954102014000583.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 14 January 2015

Fernanda Colabuono (Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto Oceanográfico, Laboratório de Química Orgânica Marinha, São Paulo, Brazil) and colleagues write in the journal Antarctic Science on pollutants in eggs of five species of Antarctic seabirds, including the ACAP-listed Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Organochlorine contaminants (OCs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were investigated in the eggs of five bird species from the South Shetland Islands.  Additionally, OCs and PBDEs were also analysed in embryos of two species.  The concentration ranges in eggs were (ng g-1 wet weight) 2.11 to 541 for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), <0.25 to 0.88 for PBDEs, 2.45 to 405 for p,p’-DDE and 1.50 to 603 for mirex.  The PCBs were predominant in the eggs of Macronectes giganteus, Catharacta antarctica and Larus dominicanus, whereas hexachlorobenzene (HCB) was the major compound found in the eggs of Pygoscelis antarcticus and Sterna vittata.  The PBDE congeners were detected only in the eggs of C. antarctica (PBDE 47 and 153) and S. vittata (PBDE 47).  There were differences in OC concentrations of up to two orders of magnitude between M. giganteus embryos which were related to the development stage and OC concentrations in the respective eggs.  Trophic ecology and post-breeding dispersal exerted an influence on contaminant patterns. Comparisons with data from the literature indicate an increase in the concentrations of some OCs over recent years.”

A white-phase Southern Giant Petrel in Antarctica, photograph by Michael Dunn

Reference:

Colabuono, F.I., Taniguchi, S., Petry, M.V. & Montone, R.C. 2015.  Organochlorine contaminants and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in eggs and embryos of Antarctic birds.  Antarctic Science doi.org/10.1017/S0954102014000807.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 13 January 2015

Sebastián Jiménez (Proyecto Albatros y Petreles – Uruguay, Centro de Investigación y Conservación Marina, Canelones, Uruguay) and colleagues have published in the journal Emu Austral Ornithology on shy-type albatrosses Thalassarche sp. in the south-west Atlantic.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Albatrosses are killed or injured through by-catch in longline fisheries and by collisions with warp cables in trawl fisheries.  Detection of areas where albatrosses interact with fisheries is important for their conservation.  Shy (Thalassarche cauta) and White-capped (T. steadi) Albatrosses are difficult to study from vessels as they are phenotypically similar.  However, the two species can be identified by molecular analysis.  The six-fold difference in the size of the total populations of these two species could mask by-catch of the less-abundant Shy Albatross, particularly when available sample sizes of by-catch are small.  Here we document the species of a sample of 29 shy-type albatrosses killed as fisheries by-catch to confirm the observation that White-capped Albatrosses are the dominant shy-type albatross in the south-western Atlantic Ocean and exposed to the pelagic longline fishery there.  Using a test based on a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) previously reported in the mtDNA of both species, 28 specimens were identified as White-capped Albatross.  The SNP test and phylogenetic analyses suggested that the remaining bird was a Shy Albatross.  Further analyses with other independent markers could confirm the identification of the latter.  This result indicates the possibility that Shy Albatrosses reach the south-western Atlantic Ocean.  There is no doubt that White-capped Albatrosses, which are a regular visitor to Uruguayan waters, is the predominant shy-type albatross in the south-western Atlantic.  However, a small proportion of shy-type albatrosses in this region could be Shy Albatross but further analysis is needed to confirm this.”

Shy Albatross, photograph by Drew Lee

Reference:

Sebastián Jiménez, Alejandro Marquez, Martin Abreu, Rodrigo Forselledo, Alfredo Pereira & Andrés Domingo 2015.  Molecular analysis suggests the occurrence of Shy Albatross in the south-western Atlantic Ocean and its by-catch in longline fishing.  Emu http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MU13105.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 12 January 2015