An ACAP-listed Balearic Shearwater in flight; photograph by Pep Arcos

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is almost upon us and this year ACAP is encouraging all procellariiform admirers to get involved and boost the number of ACAP-listed species in the count. 

The GBBC is a great example of citizen science, providing researchers with a valuable snapshot of global bird populations. This year marks the 26th Anniversary of the annual event, taking place over four days from Friday 17 February to Monday 20 February. Participants are asked to spend a minimum of 15 minutes (there is no maximum) on one of more of the four days, recording the birds they observe before submitting their checklist online at birdcount.org. 

During the 2022 GBBC, 21 out of 31 ACAP-listed species were represented, with over 600 individual birds reported to the count from participants located across the globe including: Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, Chile, Ecuador, the Falkland Islands*, New Zealand, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands*, Spain and the U.S.A. 

The location,species and number of individual ACAP-listed birds reported to the 2022 Great Backyard Bird Count; sourced from birdcount.org

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an initiative of The Cornell Lab, the National Audubon Society and Birds Canada. More information on the GBBC including how to participate can be found at birdcount.org.

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.

13 February 2023

A Black-footed Albatross with its chick on Midway Atoll: photograph by Wieteke Holthuijzen

Lindsay Young and Eric VanderWerf (Pacific Rim Conservation, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA) have published in the journal Pacific Science on the status of seabird populations vulnerable to climate change in the U.S. Tropical Pacific and conservation management activities most likely to benefit those species most at risk.

The paper’s abstract follows, 

“The U.S. Tropical Pacific (USTP) is a globally important area for seabirds with tens of millions of individuals of 32 species breeding in the region. The two greatest threats to breeding seabirds in the USTP are inundation of colonies caused by global climate change and non-native predators. We assessed the status of seabird species breeding in the USTP and which species would benefit most from restoration activities. We scored each species for nine criteria that reflected their extinction risk and vulnerability to climate change and invasive predators, then summed the scores of all criteria to obtain an overall score and ranked the species in terms of overall conservation need. The top five species at risk (in order) were Hawaiian Petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis), Newell’s Shearwater (Puffinus newelli), Polynesian Storm-Petrel (Nesofregetta fuliginosa), Phoenix Petrel (Pterodroma alba), and Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes). We also assessed 86 locations in the USTP as potential source and restoration sites for seabirds to mitigate the impacts of sea level rise and invasive predators. Some restoration actions are underway for three of the top five species in the USTP, but more actions are needed. Two of the top species (Polynesian Storm-petrel and Phoenix Petrel) occur primarily outside the USTP. Actions within the USTP are needed to complement existing conservation measures underway elsewhere in the Pacific and should be prioritized for future management actions.”

Reference: 

Young, L.C., & VanderWerf, E.A. 2022. Prioritization of Restoration Needs for Seabirds in the U.S. Tropical Pacific Vulnerable to Climate Change. Pacific Science 76(3), 247-265.  https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/879573.

10 February 2023

The Albatross and Petrel Agreement’s series of ACAP Species Infographics has expanded with the addition today of an infographic for the Near Threatened Light-mantled Albatross Phoebetria palpebrata.  This brings the number of ACAP-listed species with infographics produced so far to 10.  French and Spanish versions of the new infographic will follow in due course.

As for all the others produced so far, the new infographic has been designed and illustrated by Namasri Nuimim, who is currently based in Bangkok, Thailand.  It has been sponsored by BirdLife South Africa on behalf of the Mouse-Free Marion Project.

Two further infographics will be produced in the first half of the year, for the abundant and widespread Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris and for globally Endangered Northern Royal Albatross D. sanfordi, endemic to New Zealand.  The infographic for the former species is being sponsored by the Australian Antarctic Program, the latter by the New Zealand Department of Conservation .  Both will be in support of World Albatross Day on 19 June and its theme for this year of “Plastic Pollution

All the ACAP Species Infographics are freely available for printing as posters from the ACAP website. English and Portuguese language versions of infographics are available to download here, whilst French and Spanish versions can be found in their respective language menus for the website under, Infographies sur les espèces and Infographía sobres las especies. ACAP requests it be acknowledged in their use for conservation purposes.  They should not be used for financial gain.

With thanks to Karine Delord, Richard Phillips, Peter Ryan and Anton Wolfaardt for their reviews.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 09 February 2023

A Laysan and a Black-footed Albatross in flight; photograph by Eric Vanderwerf

Yukiko Inoue (Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Fisheries Resources Institute, Fisheries Stock Assessment Center, Shizuoka, Japan) and colleagues have published in the journal Ornithological Science, on an isotopic analysis of the diet of Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis and Black-footed Albatross P. nigripes in the Western North Pacific. 

The paper’s abstract follows, 

“In order to understand the diet of Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis and Black-footed Albatross P. nigripes in western North Pacific waters, we investigated isotopic differences between species, sexes and breeding stages. We measured carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in the muscles and livers of albatrosses (caught during Japanese pelagic longline fishing) and in their potential prey. Both δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N of Black-footed Albatross were higher than those of Laysan Albatross. Delta¹³C of both species differed seasonally and δ¹³C was lower during the incubation period than during the chick-provisioning and non-breeding periods. The δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N levels of males did not differ from those of females in either species. Our results suggest that Black-footed Albatross forages on higher isotope prey items and/or Laysan Albatross forages on lower isotope prey items other than squid and fish and that δ¹³C varies in response to seasonal variation in prey availability. This implies that Black-footed Albatross forages more on discard from the fishing industry than does Laysan Albatross; this in turn may be related to the areas of operation sea area of the longline fisheries in the western North Pacific. In conclusion, it is important for conservation of these two albatross species to monitor their diets and foraging areas and to identify the species-specific high-risk areas where albatross bycatch is most likely.”

Reference: 

Inoue, Y., Nakatsuka, S., Niizuma, Y., Ochi, D., Katsumata, N., Okamoto, K., Ishihi, Y., Oshima, K. & Minami, H. 2023. Stable Isotope Differences among Species, Sexes, and Breeding Stages of Laysan and Black-Footed Albatrosses in the Western North Pacific. Ornithological Science 22(1), 3-14. https://doi.org/10.2326/osj.22.3

8 February 2023