Wandering Albatross at sea near South Africa's Prince Edward Islands; photograph by Trevor Hardaker

Three Antarctic organisations have once more announced opportunities for early-career professionals.  The Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP), the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) work together to support talented early-career researchers, scientists, engineers, environmental managers, and other professionals.  The purpose is to strengthen international capacity and cooperation in fields such as climate, biodiversity, conservation, humanities and astrophysics research by providing annual funding opportunities.  In 2022, COMNAP and IAATO will each offer one Fellowship with funding of up to USD 15 000.  The Fellowships enable early-career persons to join a project team from another country, opening up new opportunities and often creating partnerships that last for many years and over many Antarctic field seasons. The deadline for the COMNAP and IAATO Fellowship applications is 30 June 2022.

Following the recent launch of the Polar Initiative the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation has funded an additional SCAR Fellowship and as a result SCAR will offer in total four to five Fellowships of up to USD 15 000 each for 2022.  The details for the SCAR scheme will be similar to previous years but with the opportunity for applicants to propose partly or entirely remote Fellowships to reflect the impact of Covid-19 related travel restrictions.  The deadline for the SCAR fellowship applications is 31 August 2022.

COMNAP

SCAR

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 03 March 2022

 
Cory’s Shearwater, photograph by Paulo Catry

Beneharo Rodríguez (Canary Islands’ Ornithology and Natural History Group, Buenavista del Norte, Canary Islands, Spain) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Biological Invasions on effects of Introduced predators (cats and rats) and nest competitors (such as feral pigeons Columbia livia and Cory’s Shearwaters Calonectris borealis) on Bulwer’s Petrels Bulweria bulwerii in the Canary Islands.

Co-author Airam Rodríguez writes to ACAP Latest News "The bulk of Bulwer's Petrel breeding pairs is currently restricted to geographically small secure breeding sites (mostly marine rocks) due to predation by introduced mammal predators, collisions with electricity transmission wires, road casualties, habitat destruction, and attraction to artificial night lights. We highlight an overlooked threat to these petrel sanctuaries: pigeon competition for nesting sites that can cause more than 7.3% of breeding failure. In addition, we have also compiled a non-exhaustive list of evidence of interactions between feral pigeons and other seabirds (15 species!) across the world."

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Petrels are particularly sensitive to predation by introduced species.  Many populations have reduced their breeding ranges, currently mainly occupying predator-free sites.  Breeding range reduction leads to interspecific competition for nesting sites, which can be detrimental to petrels.  Here, we evaluate how the presence of introduced mammals (cats Felis catus and rats Rattus spp.) and potential competitors for nest sites (Cory’s shearwaters Calonectris borealis and feral rock pigeons Columba livia) shape the distribution, breeding density, and breeding performance of Bulwer’s petrel Bulweria bulwerii on Tenerife, the largest and most densely human populated of the Canary Islands.  We estimated nest density, assessed the role of nest location and physical characteristics of nests on breeding success, and determined causes of breeding failure by introduced predators and competitors.  Nest density was higher in predator-free colonies on marine rocks.  Cat presence was the best predictor of nest density, but it was not correlated with either presence or abundance of competitors.  Breeding success varied between years and colonies but was not related to nest characteristics.  Pigeon competition for nests was the most frequent cause of breeding failure (7.3%), followed by rat predation (6.3%). We also compared petrel and pigeon nest cavities and found considerable overlap in the physical size of nest sites.  Our study provides insights into an overlooked impact of the invasive rock pigeon: nest competition with small seabirds.  We encourage more research on the effects of pigeons on nest density, as well as disease and pathogen transmission, and vegetation changes within seabird colonies.”

With thanks to Airam Rodríguez.

Reference:

Rodríguez, B., Rodríguez, A., Siverio, F., Martínez, J.M., Sacramento, E. & Acosta, Y. 2002.  Introduced predators and nest competitors shape distribution and breeding performance of seabirds: feral pigeons as a new threat.  Biological Invasions doi.org/10.1007/s10530-022-02746-1.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 02 March 2022

Combating climate change: a translocated Laysan Albatross chick is hand-reared by Pacific Rim Conservation in the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge, a site safe from sea-level rise; artwork by ABUN artist, Ilana Nimz

Since the beginning of the year ACAP has been collaborating with Artists and Biologists Unite for Nature (ABUN) over January and February on its 39th Project (“World Albatross Day 2022 - Climate Change”) to produce artworks that will help increase awareness of the conservation plight facing the world’s albatrosses.  This the third such collaboration with ABUN.

ABUN #39 was due to have ended yesterday after two months, but it has been extended by Kitty Harvill, ABUN’s co-founder, to the end of March 2022.  This will allow contributing artists to submit more artworks depicting two of the three species of albatrosses that breed in the North Pacific: the Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes and the Laysan P. immutabilis.  These two species have been chosen to feature this year’s theme of Climate Change for World Albatross Day on 19 June (click here).

At risk from storms: Black-footed Albatrosses breeding close to the shore, watercolour and gouache by Flávia Barreto; after a photograph by Eric Vanderwerf

In the first two months of the collaboration a total off 55 artworks has been received, 18 depicting Black-footed Albatrosses, and 37 Laysan Albatrosses.  ACAP looks forward to seeing what the ABUN artists will produce in the next four weeks.

With grateful thanks to Kitty Harvill, Co-founder of ABUN and to all the contributing artists for supporting the conservation of albatrosses with their art.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 01 March 2022

Wisdom's 2011 chick, marked with band number N333, survived the March 2011 tsunami on Midway Atoll and was sighted the first time on a nest of its own in December 2021, photograph by Dan Rapp

Wisdom, a female Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis who regularly breeds on the USA’s Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the North Pacific, is the world’s oldest known banded wild bird.  With an estimated minimum age of 70, she has now reached her eighth decade (click here).  This season she briefly visited Midway but has taken a year off from breeding (click here).

However, this season her chick from 2011, identified by the leg band number red N333, has been sighted raising a chick of its own.  Wisdom was at least 59 years old when N333 hatched.  First sighted breeding in December last year, N333 (believed to be a male due to its larger bill size) is currently busy taking turns with its mate as they feed and care for Wisdom’s “grandchick”.

Survivor of the 2011 tsunami, Wisdom's 2011 chick checks out its egg in January 2022; photograph by Dan Rapp

“Sighting N333 on a nest was a long shot because the nest is not located in a study plot and is approximately 176 yards [160 m] from Wisdom’s nest site near a path to North Beach.  What makes this discovery particularly extraordinary is because N333 as a young chick miraculously survived the March 11, 2011 tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the northeastern coast of Japan.  A massive ocean swell surged across the Pacific that day eventually inundating with water and debris most of Eastern Island and parts of Sand Island killing an estimated 110,000 albatross chicks that were too young to fly plus two thousand adults.”

“When Wisdom returned to Midway Atoll to feed her chick on March 20, 2011, it was a welcomed sigh of relief amidst the devastation. N333 also survived due in part to the location of Wisdom’s nest site.  The out-planting of native species created a protective dune barrier that guards against rising sea swells from flooding the northern side of Sand Island. Wisdom’s nest site is located just inland of this sand dune line.”

Wisdom returns to feed her 2011 chick; photograph by U.S. Geological Survey

N333 was the first of Wisdom’s chicks banded and was previously sighted by Wildlife Biologist Jon Plissner each spring from 2018 through 2021 close to its parents’ nest.

News from the Friends of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (click here).

Note:  The ACAP Information Officer became a grandfather for the first time at the ripe old age of 74 last September, so the above story particularly resonates with him.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 28 February 2022