Pickings From The Chum Slick

Announcement: Extreme Gadfly Petrel Expeditions

2009-10-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

Background: The following challenging pelagic expeditions are being organised as part of the on-going Tubenoses Project (Shirihai, H. & Bretagnolle, V. In prep. Illus. by Cox J. Albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters of the world: a handbook to their taxonomy, identification, ecology and conservation, A & C Black, London), and represent an effort to collect further data on the identification, variation, distribution and population sizes of some of the least known petrels on the planet.

The expeditions listed below are non-commercial pelagic voyages with all participants, including the organisers, equally sharing the costs of chartering the vessels. The expeditions will be conducted in a similar manner to recent voyages that led to the rediscovery of Beck’s Petrel Pterodroma becki in 2007 in the Bismarck archipelago (Shirihai 2008), and the first pelagic observations of Zino’s Petrel Pterodroma madeira in April 2009, off Madeira (Shirihai 2009), and Fiji Petrel Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi, off Gau Island, Fiji (Shirihai et al. 2009).

Up-coming expeditions (2009):

(1) Search for the Jamaican Petrel (presumed extinct) off Jamaica: This voyage will run from 17th November to 1st December 2009, using a fast ocean-going boat. Depending on the weather conditions, we will spend 7 to 10 days at sea off Jamaica.

The Jamaican Petrel had been described to science, when it promptly disappeared; its last confirmed record was in 1891, almost two decades after mongooses were believed introduced onto the main island of Jamaica. Hopes remain that a tiny population of Jamaican Petrels still survive in the extensive tracts of suitable forest habitat. Moreover, mongooses have not prevented Black-capped Petrels from breeding in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Several attempts have been made over the last decades to find the Jamaican Petrel on land, specifically in the Blue Mountains, without success. None of these expeditions have searched at sea, a proven strategy as described above.

In preparation for this expedition, HS visited Jamaica (March-April 2009) to see habitats that might support a population of breeding petrels, and also viewed the breeding habitat of Black-capped Petrels in the Dominican Republic. HS and Vincent Bretagnolle have made a geographical survey (using satellite image maps and marine charts) and have analysed meteorological data for the region; parameters that contributed to the successful studies of Beck’s, Zino’s and Fiji Petrels at sea. From this analysis, a very specific oceanic corridor has been proposed that might be used by any Jamaican Petrels travelling to and from the island.

The plan is to intensively search this area and to use 1.5 tons of chum that will be prepared by our ground team and a local fish factory. The material will be kept aboard ship in dedicated freezers.

For logistical reasons, there is room for only 4 expedition members and currently there is only one spot available; the expedition share is US$7000.

Please contact HS at albatross_shirihai@hotmail.com to sign on, or for further information about the voyage, its plans and conditions.

(2) Search for the recently rediscovered Vanuatu Petrel in the remote Banks Group: This two-week voyage, 13th to the 28th December 2009, will use a 72ft. expedition research vessel sailing out of the port of Santo, Vanuatu.

The Vanuatu Petrel Pterodroma occulta was collected in January 1927, by Rollo Beck (Whitney South Sea Expedition), though it was overlooked as a White-necked Petrel P. cervicalis until Imber and Tennyson (2001) drew attention to the fact that the specimens were distinctly smaller and represented an unrecognised species. Since then an additional specimen was found ashore in eastern Australia in 1983. The first at-sea record was of a bird observed by HS in January 2006 between New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Then in 2007, two/three birds were sighted off southern Vanuatu. There is recent evidence (still unpublished) that suggests a breeding population on at least one island in Vanuatu.

In December 2009 we shall try to obtain further data on this population, both at sea and on several islands in the remote Banks group. Dr. Vincent Bretagnolle, Dr. Orian Shirihai and HS are the organisers of this expedition. Besides studying petrels and other seabirds, the expedition will seek out some of the landbirds of the islands and also study tribal customs of the indigenous islanders, including the use of alternative medicines.

Only 7 expedition members can be accommodated on the vessel, the remaining space will be occupied by a set of huge freezers that will store two tons of chum for use during the planned mass chumming operations.

To date there are 5 on board, and two more are welcome, at US$7000 per person. This rate will be discounted for students and those from conservation bodies to US$5000 per person.

Please contact directly HS at albatross_shirihai@hotmail.com to sign up, or for further information about the voyage plans and conditions.

Expeditions planned for 2010 & 2011 (with further information on the following to be posted nearer the times):

2010:

Off Madeira: To study Zino’s Petrel at sea, 20th-30th June (with Hadoram Shirihai & Tony Pym, and the organisation of Madeira Wind Birds).

Guadalupe Islands, Mexico: In search of the (believed extinct) Guadalupe Storm Petrel, March 2010 or 2011, with Hadoram Shirihai.

2011-12:

Chatham Islands: In search of the Magenta Pterodroma magentae and Chatham Island Petrel P. axillaris (tentatively scheduled for Dec), and most of the local land-bird endemics. With Tony Pym & Hadoram Shirihai. For further information please contact Tony (tony_pym@hotmail.com).

Juan Fernández archipelago, Chile: For the three endemic eastern tropical Pterodroma (during Nov-Dec), namely Juan Fernandez Petrel Pterodroma externa, Stejneger's Petrel Pterodroma longirostris and Defilippi’s Petrel Pterodroma defilippiana; with the organisation and co-leadership of Ross Wanless (and Hadoram Shirihai for the work on petrels at sea). We will also endeavour to see the landbird endemics. For further information please contact Ross (rosswanless@gmail.com).

Eastern Tropical Pacific off Peru: To study storm petrels (tentatively Jan 2011), with Hadoram Shirihai, and with the organisation of Gunnar Engblom (Kolibri Expeditions). For further information please contact Gunnar (kolibriexp@gmail.com).

Off Reunion, Indian Ocean: Seeking field knowledge on the poorly known Mascarene Petrel Pseudobulweria aterrima with Tony Pym and Hadoram Shirihai (expedition dates to be announced).

Regular updates on these expeditions will be posted on Seabird-News (Angus Wilson and/or Tony Pym) and the website of Kolibri Expeditions (Gunnar Engblom).

New seabird blog from Greg Gillson in Oregon

2009-10-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

Greg Gillson (The Bird Guide Pelagics) has created a new blog called OREGON SEABIRDS that focuses on seabirding along the west coast of North America, with emphasis on Greg's home state of Oregon. Check it out!

Black-capped Petrel returns to the Azores?

2009-05-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

On 22 May 2009, a Black-capped Petrel (Pterodroma hasitata) was photographed at sea by João Quaresma some 5-6 miles south of Queimada, Pico. Interestingly, the first record for the archipelago was photographed off Graciosa on 26 May 2007. Photos of both birds are posted on the Birding Azores web site.

Salvin's Albatross found on Gough Island in South Atlantic

2008-11-05T09:22:00.000-08:00

Ross Wanless brings news of an adult SALVIN'S ALBATROSS (Thalassarche salvini) in the Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross (T. chlororhynchos) colony on Gough Island in the South Atlantic (-40.3207°, -9.92871°). Gough is part of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago. This photo was taken by Paul Visser, a biologist working on this remote island. The majority of Salvin's Albatrosses nest on the Bounty Islands in Sub-antarctic New Zealand, with smaller numbers on the Snares and a handful of pairs on Penguin Island in the Crozet Group (French Southern Territories) in the Indian Ocean. Salvin's occur in South African waters as non-breeders but are more numerous in the Pacific where they forage in the Humbolt Current as far north as Peru. To my knowledge, this is the first documented occurrence on land in the Atlantic Ocean. In Nov 2001, Javier Arata found an adult Salvin's with Black-browed Albatross (T. melanophrys) on Gonzalo Island in the Diego Ramirez Group off southern Chile (2003 Notornis 50:169).

Probable Trindade Petrel off Cape Verde Islands

2008-10-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

Mike Greenfelder, a naturalist with Lindblad Expeditions , sent these three video grab images taken last month near Brava (Decimal coordinates 14.8507°, -24.705°) in the Sotavento (southern island group) of the Cape Verdes.

The bird appears to be an intermediate-morph Trindade Petrel, Pterodroma arminjoniana. However, as Mike points out, Atlantic Petrel Pterodroma incerta is quite similar in overall patterning but shows less extensive white on the 'hand' of the underwing. Typically this is limited to a silvery sheen on the bases of the primaries. Furthermore, the bill does not strike me as chunky enough, nor the head rounded enough for Atlantic. Trindade Petrel nests in Brazilian waters and ranges regularly into Gulf Stream waters off east coast of the United States. In addition, there are at least two records from the Azores (18th July 1997 and 17th May 2006).

Here are the pertinent comments from his email: "On Sept. 30 [2008] we were in Zodiacs 0.5 miles south of the southern tip of Brava Island in the Cape Verde group. We were watching Melon-headed whales in flat seas when a very interesting petrel flew around us. I didn't have a camera but our video guy shot video of it. I made a few stills, which I have attached. To me it looked like an Atlantic Petrel, but with white underwings. Trinidade Petrel is the best I have come up with, but there doesn't seem to be anything similar in range, so obviously an interesting sighting. Looks similar to Herald Petrel drawings, but I have heard that Atlantic may show some white in underwing with wear."

Seawatch - Long Island, New York USA

2008-08-31T14:58:00.000-07:00

Once the rains had cleared this afternoon (30 August 2008), I toured some of the coastal spots between The Springs (Town of East Hampton) and Montauk Point (Google Coordinates 41.071900, -71.859000), Suffolk Co., Long Island. For this first time this summer terns were much in evidence, mostly COMMON and ROSEATE TERNS with fledged birds of the year, but an influx of BLACK TERNS Chlidonias niger surinamensis were the stars. After noting a Black Tern in Gardiner's Bay off Fireplace Beach, I found greater numbers in Napeague Bay (18) and on the Atlantic Ocean off Hither Hills (>50) and around Montauk Point (45). Smaller groups of terns, including more Black Terns, were found at several other spots. Shoals of Bluefish and Stripped Bass were actively feeding off Hither Hills and Montauk, the ocean seeming to boil in places because of the mass of predatory fish that were gorging on tiny bait fish (1-2 cm). This tiny prey was also being picked off by the terns hovering over the surface. At Montauk Point, some of the surf casters were hooking strippers and bluefish on every cast but I was pleased to see that most of fish went straight back in the water unscathed.

On the ocean off the Hither Hills camp ground (41.010241, -72.007429), 5 PARASITIC JAEGERS were harassing a large congregation of Laughing Gulls and terns. When the piscine activity subsided, the jaegers pulled out within minutes of each other, flying eastwards relatively close to shore. I tentatively aged them as two 1st summers, 2 second/third summers and 1 molting adult. They kept going towards Ditch Plains and vanished into the sea mist. Very nice!

However, the 'bird of the day' for me was a large LEATHERBACK TURTLE Dermochelys coriacea that surfaced 100 yards off the beach at an overlook at the western end of Montauk village. The view point is high enough that through a scope, I could see the ridges and barnacles on the marine turtle's back as well as its long black flippers and immense eyes. Loggerheads are not uncommon offshore in summer but it is a treat to see one from land.

BLACK TERN - 118 (sum of high counts from various spots)
Forster's Tern - 5, Napeague, Montauk and Montauk Pt.
Common Tern - 1,550
Roseate Tern - 190++
Laughing Gull - 300
Northern Gannet - 1, Hither Hills
PARASITIC JAEGER - 5, Hither Hills then moved east.
Common Loon - 3, Hither Hills at edge of feeding frenzy

Some other birds of note were:
Northern Harrier - 2, female-types, Hick's Island
Turkey - 9, Amagansett and Napeague
Solitary Sandpiper - 1, Deep Hollow Ranch Pond
Lesser Yellowlegs - 4, Rita's Stable Pond
Spotted Sandpiper - 4, Montauk area
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 2 Deep Hollow and Rita's
Black-bellied Plover - 20 incl. 1 at Deep Hollow (south side Rt 27)
Western Willet - 1, Napeague Harbor
Eastern Willet - 2, Napeague Harbor (late! noticeably shorter legged and darker than accompanying Western)
American Oystercatcher - 2, Napeague
Bobolink - 1 male, Promised Land Fish hatchery
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 3, Montauk Point below restaurant

Humpbacks and seabird bonanza in the Great South Channel

2008-08-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, I joined the annual CRESLI whale watching adventure to the Great South Channel, a gouge in the seabed that separates Cape Cod and the Nantucket Shoals from the western edge of George's Bank. This north-south passage is used by several species of whales in the spring and fall as they transiting between the hyper-productive waters of the Gulf of Maine and warmer but less bountiful waters of the mid-Atlantic and Gulf Stream.

Organized by Dr. Artie Kopelman, this 51-hour trip aboard the 140 foot (42.7 meter) Viking Starship departs from Montauk, NY and is designed to intercept female Humpback Whales Megaptera novaeangliae and calves of various ages as they feed intensively on herring and other small fish in anticipation of their southward migration to the tropics. This has to be one of the best opportunities to see, hear and dare I say it, smell, Humpbacks in the North Atlantic! One of Artie's most frequent calls over the PA system was, "we are officially surrounded by whales", his glee barely concealed. The unflagging enthusiasm of the CRESLI participants is equally impressive. Each and every whale encounter is greeted with the same unfettered excitement as the first - a rare thing in these jaded, 'I've seen it all', times.

For our entire stay in the GSC, it was almost impossible to look around and not see a breaching animal or puff of blow. Even at night, the insomniacs were busily whalewatching by deck light as a group of inquisitive animals loafed alongside the Viking Starship, spinning lazy somersaults a few feet from the rail throughout the early hours. This amazing show continued well after dawn, with the youngsters rearing up out of the water to get a look at the peanut gallery of 'oohing and 'ahhing' spectators leaning over the rail, pocket cameras and coffee cups in hand. Although rich in plankton, the green water was still clear enough for us to see the white underparts and enormous flippers of the gyrating animals below us and we marveled at their ability to 'turn on a dime', breaking the surface with a squeaky puff on one side of the boat and then the other.

Researchers from the Whale Center of New England were aboard, including Jennifer Tackaberry who manages the North Atlantic Humpback Whale catalog. Some 28 different individuals were photographed and Jen, who knows her catalog inside out, recognized 18 previously named individuals. At least three mother/calf pairs were studied at length to document the pairings, providing information about breeding success, reproductive rates and so on. The fact that at least 10 of the photographed whales were unfamiliar is particularly exciting, evidence perhaps of an influx from elsewhere. Further scrutiny of the images and databases may shed more light on this. We probably saw more whales than this but just did not have time to sit alongside each and get usable images of the raised tail flukes to allow unambiguous identification.

Early in the trip we encountered a good-sized Fin Whale Balaenoptera physalus, a handful of Short-beaked Common Dolphins Delphinus delphis and on the second day, a highly cooperative pod of 30 or so Pilot Whales Globicephala sp. that swam alongside for a while, allowing their curious calves to peek at the boat. Eventually, the pod grew tired of us and simply vanished into the depths. With water temperatures in the mid-50's, I would predict these to be Long-finned Pilot Whales Globicephala melas, however, the lack of a prominent pale patch behind the dorsal fin on the adult male and larger females raises the possibility of Short-finned Pilot Whale G. macrorhynchus. There seems to have been an incursion of warm water onto the Continental shelf this summer, evidenced by better than usual numbers of Cory's Shearwaters Calonectris diomedea in New England and New York, and so Short-finned might not be such an outlandish possibility.

Although the trip is focused on collecting population data on the Humpback Whales as part of on-going CRESLI and WCNE research projects, it provides great opportunity to study and photograph a variety of seabirds. The numbers of Great Shearwater Puffinus gravis, Wilson's Storm-Petrel Oceanites oceanicus and Common Tern Sterna hirundo were truly impressive. In fact, the throngs of commoner species were overwhelming at times and with only four sets of eyes scrutinizing the birds rather than fixed on the whales, lots of good stuff was probably missed in the happy chaos. Highlights were a South Polar Skua Catharacta maccormicki that passed right over the bow, good numbers of Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers Stercorarius pomarinus and S. parasiticus and at least fifteen Leach's Storm-Petrels Oceanodroma leucorhoa. Landbird migration is getting underway and we were visited by several sandpipers, three warblers and a Purple Martin Progne subis. It would be great to have more seabird enthusiasts join us in future years to help pick through the abundant birdlife. My daily bird counts are as follows:

DAY 1 (11 Aug 2008)
Emerged from the banks of mist filling Nantucket Sound shortly after dawn and spent the entire day over the GSC, surrounded by whales.

Cory's Shearwater - 35
Great Shearwater - 5,119
Sooty Shearwater - 65
Manx Shearwater - 5
Wilson Storm-Petrel - 1,240
LEACH'S STORM-PETREL - 6
Northern Gannet - 6
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 3 (briefly inspected boat before moving on)
Red-necked Phalarope - 1
large shorebird sp. - 10+
Herring Gull - 5
Great Black-backed Gull - 45
Black-legged Kittiwake - 1
Common Tern - 1,450
SOUTH POLAR SKUA - 1
Pomarine Jaeger - 12 (incl 3 ads)
Parasitic Jaeger - 2
Northern Waterthrush - 1 (Nicknamed "Lucky" the bird flew around the ship many times before gaining the courage to land. Fed and watered by some kind-hearted participants, and narrowly missing being stood on several times. Remained for most of next day until jumping ship when Nantucket and mainland in sight).
Prairie Warbler - 1 (spent a few hours inside the main cabin before disappearing)

DAY 2 (12 Aug 2008)

With whales from pre-dawn to 10 am when we began the 12.5 h steam back to Martha's Vineyard (4:00 pm) and Montauk (10:30 pm).

Common Loon - 9 (Nantucket Sound)
Cory's Shearwater - 39
Great Shearwater - 2,159
Sooty Shearwater - 19
Manx Shearwater - 1
Wilson Storm-Petrel - 357
LEACH'S STORM-PETREL - 9 (several close to vessel)
Northern Gannet - 5
Herring Gull - 18
Great Black-backed Gull - 67
Laughing Gull - 30 (Nantucket Sound and Martha's Vineyard Sound)
Black-legged Kittiwake - 1 (harassed by Parasitic Jaeger)
Common Tern - 980
Black Tern - 1
Pomarine Jaeger - 3 (including 1 adult with large tail spoons)
Parasitic Jaeger - 4
Northern Waterthrush - 1 (from previous day)
American Redstart - 1
Purple Martin - 1

My thanks to Dr. Artie Kopelman and his intrepid band of CRESLI volunteers for putting together another fantastic trip.

Ireland's mystery shearwater revealed

2008-08-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

For a few nights each summer since 2004, an unfamiliar seabird has been heard calling from the rocky slopes of Skellig Michael, a dramatic islet off the coast of Ireland's County Kerry (Google Coordinates 51.7689°, -10.5423°). This June the calls were recorded by a visiting film crew headed by Eamon de Buitlear and identified by Killian Mullarney and Magnus Robb (authors of Petrels Night and Day: A Sound Approach Guide) as a male Cory's Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea).

Armed with a tape, Alyn Walsh and Mullarney revisited the site where they successfully caught and ringed the shearwater. The closest known breeding site for Cory’s Shearwater is on the Berlengas Islands, a small archipelago off central Portugal (39.4151°, -9.51258°) some 850 miles south of Skellig Michael. Interestingly, a few pairs of Scopoli's Shearwater nest on the French coast near Bordeaux (Mays, Durand and Gomez 2006 Ornithos 13: 316), a mere 650 miles away.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Skellig Michael (Great and Little Skellig) host large colonies of Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus, European (British) Storm-Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus, Northern Gannet Morus bassanus, alcids and Red-billed Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax.

Will the Skellig Cory's Shearwater return next summer? Will he succeed in luring a mate? Could there be other Cory's or Scopoli's Shearwaters visiting North Atlantic seabird colonies?

See Irish Birding and Birdwatch Magazine for the full story.

Petrels Night and Day: A Sound Approach

2008-07-18T14:11:00.001-07:00

Ever wondered what White-faced Storm-Petrels sound like? No, they don't go "boing, boing, boing" as their wave hopping antics would suggest. A spectacular new book by Magnus Robb, Killian Mullarney and others called Petrels Night and Day: A Sound Approach Guide, has the answer and much, much more.

Using two CD's worth of sound recordings, a wonderfully readable text, eighteen full-page color plates and a heep of spectacular photographs, the authors take us on a sweeping tour through the eastern North Atlantic and Mediterranean in search of petrels, shearwaters, fulmar and storm-petrels. The result is a master work that sets a new standard for natural history guides. The material on field identification is absolutely cutting edge, with detailed treatments of several potential new splits. Pelagic birders on both sides of the Atlantic will find this a treasure trove of information and an inspiration.

Checkout the Oceanwanderers Bookshelf for the full review.

In albatrosses, two moms can be better than one.

2008-07-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

A recent paper by Lindsay Young (University of Hawaii) and colleagues reveals an interesting example of cooperative behavior and prompts the question of how often this occurs in seabirds where males and females show little difference in appearance.

Here is the abstract:

Unrelated same-sex individuals pairing together and cooperating to raise offspring over many years is a rare occurrence in the animal kingdom. Cooperative breeding, in which animals help raise offspring that are not their own, is often attributed to kin selection when individuals are related, or altruism when individuals are unrelated. Here we document long-term pairing of unrelated female Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) and show how cooperation may have arisen as a result of a skewed sex ratio in this species. Thirty-one per cent of Laysan albatross pairs on Oahu were female–female, and the overall sex ratio was 59% females as a result of female-biased immigration. Female–female pairs fledged fewer offspring than male–female pairs, but this was a better alternative than not breeding. In most female–female pairs that raised a chick in more than 1 year, at least one offspring was genetically related to each female, indicating that both females had opportunities to reproduce. These results demonstrate how changes in the sex ratio of a population can shift the social structure and cause cooperative behaviour to arise in a monogamous species, and they also underscore the importance of genetically sexing monomorphic species.

Citation:
Young LC, Zaun BJ, Vanderwerf EA. Successful same-sex pairing in Laysan albatross.
Biol Lett. 2008 Aug 23;4(4):323-5

Socotra Archipelago named World Heritage Site

2008-07-08T19:08:00.000-07:00

The Socotra Archipelago (12.489158°, 53.907147°) is made up of four small and arid islands and two rocky islets that jut out from the Horn of Africa into the northwest Indian Ocean. In July 2008, Socotra was officially designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its distinct flora and fauna. Some 37% of Socotra’s 825 plant species, 90% of its reptile species and 95% of its land snail species are endemic. The islands also supports globally significant populations of land and sea birds, including a number of threatened species. The marine life in the waters around Socotra is also very diverse, with 253 species of reef-building corals, 730 species of coastal fish and 300 species of crab, lobster and shrimp. Politically, the islands belong to the Republic of Yemen but not surprisingly, are also claimed by Somalia which is geographically closer.

There seems to be mixed information about the namesake Socotra Cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis). Birdlife International 2003 reports that this Near-Threatened regional endemic occurs in small numbers as a non-breeding visitor throughout the archipelago and is more widespread elsewhere in the Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden. However, Dave Sargent's January 2006 exemplary trip report indicates the cormorants breed and can be very numerous in places.

Other nesting seabirds include Jouanin's Petrel Bulweria fallax Persian Shearwater Puffinus (lherminieri) persicus, Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus, Masked Booby Sula dactylatra, Brown Booby Sula leucogaster, White-eyed Gull Larus leucopthalmus, Sooty Gull Larus hemprichii, Great Crested Tern Sterna bergii, Lesser Crested Tern Sterna bengalensis, Sooty Tern Sterna fuscata, Saunders' Tern Sterna saundersi, and Brown Noddy Anous stolidus.

Non-breeding visitors include Wedge-tailed Shearwater Puffinus pacificus, Flesh-footed Shearwater Puffinus carneipes, and Wilson's Storm-Petrel Oceanites oceanicus.

Troubling News for Maltese Seabirds

2008-06-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

There are growing concerns that a local developer plans to extend a hotel complex adjacent to the Ta' Ċenċ Special Protection Area (SPA) on the Mediterranean island of Malta. This area of coastal cliffs was designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) for its internationally important colonies of Yelkouan Shearwater (150-300 pairs), Scopoli's (Cory's) Shearwater (1000 pairs), and European (Mediterranean) Storm-petrels (more than 25 pairs).

Malta is especially important for Yelkouan Shearwaters (Puffinus yelkouan) with a nesting population of around 1,500 pairs, equivalent to 10% of the world population. Coastal development, human disturbance and predators such as rat are significant threats. Click here to read more about the EU LIFE Yelkouan Shearwater Project which aims to build and protect the largest colony on the cliffs at Rdum tal-Madonna, situated on the northwestern tip of the island.

For news updates visit the Birdlife Malta web page. Photo of Yelkouan Shearwater copyright of Frank Dhermain/Yelkouan Shearwater Project/Birdlife Malta.

Grebes and Loons: New Perspectives in Avian Phylogeny

2008-06-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

DNA sequencing has become the work horse of the modern taxonomist and great strides have been made in understanding the evolutionary relationships of birds by comparing the sequences of representative genes in the nuclear and/or mitochondrial genomes. However, the results are sometimes ambiguous or seem surprising based on other criteria. A report published this week in the journal Science describes a consortium effort to sequence much large region of avian genomes to improve the comparisons. Headed by Shannon Hackett, an ornithologist at The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois, the team determined and compared the sequences of 19 genes (~32,000 nucleotides) from a total of 169 bird species. Across the spectrum there are surprises and within the 'seabirds' the biggest to me is the fact that grebes appear totaly unaligned with loons (divers). The latter cluster closely with penguins and albatrosses/petrels and not too far from herons, storks and pelicans and similar 'totipalmate'birds. This supports the notion of a major clade of evolutionarily related waterbirds. Grebes on the other hand sit on a very distant branch of the cladogram with flamingos, consistent with prior studies (van Tuinen et al. 2001).

Hackett SJ, Kimball RT, Reddy S, Bowie RC, Braun EL, Braun MJ, Chojnowski JL, Cox WA, Han KL, Harshman J, Huddleston CJ, Marks BD, Miglia KJ, Moore WS, Sheldon FH, Steadman DW, Witt CC, Yuri T. A phylogenomic study of birds reveals their evolutionary history. Science. 2008 Jun 27;320(5884):1763-8.

M. van Tuinen, D. B. Butvill, J. A. W. Kirsch, S. B. Hedges.(2001) Convergence and divergence in the evolution of aquatic birds. Proc. R. Soc. London Ser. B 268,1345.

Seabirds of the Bass Rock

2008-06-27T06:29:00.000-07:00

On a recent visit to Edinburgh, Scotland, I enjoyed an afternoon stroll on the beach at North Berwick. Just offshore stands the Bass Rock (56.0775°, -2.638611°), a magnificent plug of hard volcanic rock that is home to more than 100,000 Atlantic Gannets. Indeed, the scientific name Morus bassanus, derives from that of the rock. During the last half-century, the numbers have increased from around 7,000 active nests in the 1960's to more than 35,000 now. Much of the available space is now occupied but the population has yet to expand onto neighboring islands. Birds from the Bass exploit rich sand-eel fishing to the north and south along the eastern coast of Scotland as well as far out into the North Sea. The rock is composed of clinker basalt and at its high point stands 100 m (340 ft) above the surface of the sea.

Many Gannets ventured right over the beach as the collected floating seaweed for their nests. From shore with binoculars it was easy to spot numerous Razorbills, Common Guillemots (Murres) and Atlantic Puffins on the water as well as flying too and from the Bass. Northern Fulmar, Black-legged Kittiwake, European Shag and Great Cormorant were also much in evidence. The Bass Rock is only 25 miles from the heart of Edinburgh and well worth a side trip if you are in town. There is an interpretive center (Scottish Seabird Centre) at the harbor where tours around the island depart several times a day, weather permitting. Apparently tours now land on the island, something that was not offered on any of my past visits.

Several islands decorate the outer Firth of Forth, creating a spectacular area for nesting seabirds. To the northeast lies the Isle of May (56.183333°, -2.566667°) hosting some 200,000 nesting seabirds including 40,000 pairs of Atlantic Puffins, 17,000 pairs of Common Guillemot (Common Murre), 2,700 pairs of Razorbill and 6,500 pairs of Black-legged Kittiwake. Just west of the Bass rock lies Craigleith (56.066667°, -2.716667°) with its lower, greener profile. In 1999, Craigleith held 28,000 nesting pairs of Atlantic Puffins until a precipitous population crash that reduced the population to only a few thousand. Spread of the invasive tree mallow (Lavatera arborea) is blamed and intensive efforts to clear the vegetation (project 'SOS Puffin') have begun to see rewards. Mild winters may have facilitated the spread of tree mallow, a Mediterranean species which is widespread along the south-west and west coasts of Britain. Additional seabird nesting sites are on Fidra (56.073056°, -2.783333°), The Lamb and Inchmickery (56.01084°, -3.27343°) just to the north of Edinburgh which is favored by nesting Sandwich and Roseate Terns.

A wonderful source of information on the Bass and its emblematic sulid is Bryan Nelson's monograph The Atlantic Gannet (2001, Neill Shuttlewood/Fenix Press, ISBN:095411910X.).

Reasonably encouraging news for Southern Ocean seabirds

2008-06-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) adopted new regulations to reduce seabird bycatch in its fishery. The IOTC is an intergovernmental organization that oversees the tuna and tuna-like fishery in the Indian Ocean and adjacent seas north of the Antarctic Convergence (see map). The seabird proposal was led by Australia and the European Community with support from Japan and Korea. Much of the scientific data used to justify the proposal was provided by BirdLife International and ACAP, the 'Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels' based in Hobart, Australia.

Under the new regulations, all longline vessels fishing for tuna and swordfish in the southern Indian Ocean, south of 30°S, will be required to use a combination of at least two measures to reduce seabird bycatch. Operators can choose to set their hooks at night with minimum deck lighting when birds are less active and use a bird streamer, or tori, line to keep birds away from the hooks, or add weight to lines to make them sink more quickly out of reach of the albatrosses, or lastly, dye the bait blue to make it less visible. Currently, four out of the five tuna commissions have regulations of this type in place and at the end of June, the fifth, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission will consider adopting similar policy at its meeting in Panama.

This is a good first step but it is still a baby step towards abolishing seabird mortality from commercial long-line fishing. As the IOTC recognizes, systems to monitor and enforce compliance still need to be established - no easy matter on the high seas. Under the new regulations, longlining vessels from organizations that belong to the IOTC will need to report seabird interactions on an annual basis and a scientific committee will report on the impact of the new requirements no later than 2011. For the Critically Endangered Amsterdam Albatross Diomedea amsterdamensis and the Endangered Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche carteri, both of which are essentially endemic to the IOTC region, time is of the essence. Hopefully the new measures will be effective and not have to be revised significantly once the data is gathered.

Fiji Petrel Expedition - Participants Needed

2008-06-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

Fiji Petrel Expedition, Fiji Islands 08, on its way - looking for two more keen participants

Hadoram Shirihai and Dick Watling (the former is responsible for the rediscovery of Beck's Petrel and the latter the Fiji Petrels) are just about one month before starting the at sea Fiji Petrel Expedition, 16 to 26 July 2008. The goal of the voyage is to document the continued survival of Fiji Petrel, one of the World's least known seabirds, and survey the Fijian waters for other poorly known petrels and cetaceans.

Dick and Hadoram have now chartered a larger vessel, the 'Summer Spirit', and are looking for two additional participants. In this unique expedition the number of participants (beside Dick and Hadoram) is limited to five participants only. If you like to join this unique pelagic expedition please contact Hadoram at albatross_shirihai[at symbol]hotmail.com

North Carolina Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel Photo

2008-06-14T17:20:00.000-07:00

For those who haven't see it yet, there is gorgeous photo by Steve Howell of the 2 June 2008 Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma monorhis) alongside 2 Wilson's Storm-Petrels (Oceanites oceanicus) on the front page of Brian Patteson's Seabirding Pelagic Trips web site. The Swinhoe's was photographed 35.5 nautical miles ENE of Hatteras Village (35.219444°, -75.690278°), on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, USA. Hopefully more photos of this exciting bird will be added soon together with complete listings of bird and marine mammal recorded during a very productive spring season of North Carolina pelagics.

Seawatch - Long Island, New York, USA

2008-06-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

An evening seawatch (6:05-7:30 pm) from Amagansett near the eastern tip of Long Island (40.9694°,-72.1238°) produced some nice birds in spite of flat calm conditions and some mist. A scattering of Northern Gannets (21 total) were joined by at least six CORY'S SHEARWATERS, a single MANX SHEARWATER and two WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS. The tubenoses milled around on the edge of the mist for a half hour before disappearing. Other birds of note included 1 Black Skimmer (flying west), 2 subadult Laughing Gulls and 4 Common Loons (all in basic plumages).

More thoughts on Steve Wood's petrel image from Kermadec Islands, NZ

2008-06-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Hadoram Shirihai's response to the note published in Birdwatch magazine, concerning a petrel photographed off the Kermadec Islands by Steve Wood:

Fig. 1 & 2. Worn Black-winged Petrel, showing clear white collar due to wear and breaching; W Tropical Pacific; photo copyright of Tony Quinn.

It is correct that initially I speculated (as according to the note in Birdwatch, Michael Imber did as well) that the petrel photographed by Steve Wood (click here for link to photo) could be the poorly-known Vanuatu Petrel Pterodroma occulta. However, this was done before I had an opportunity to experience the two forms at sea and around the breeding grounds (i.e. White-necked Petrel Pterodroma cervicalis in the Kermadec Islands, and Vanuatu Petrel around Vanuatu), and also prior to examining the 6 specimens of occulta at the AMNH. In the future, I will be happy to share the results of these studies with others but not in this short response.

As posted on the 26 May (in Seabird News, run by Angus Wilson), and among other speculations, I indicated that Steve Wood's petrel appeared to have "an underwing pattern and overall shape reminiscent of Black-Winged Petrel, but that the black on the head/cap looks too extensive for the latter". But I also speculated "the apparent white collar is not conclusive, as this could possibly be an effect of wear."

Nevertheless, I checked images of the many Black-Winged Petrels that I photographed off the Kermadec Islands and found that some birds do appear to have slightly darker crown or even darker overall head (from certain angels and lights), and some even have a faint pale area on the hindneck. Furthermore, two of my friends, Robert Flood (UK) and Brent Stephenson (NZ), have contact me to say that they too have seen and documented 'white-collared' Black-Winged Petrel. Brent also kindly sent his images taken off northern NZ (during seabird pelagic voyages that he organizes on a regular basis), while Robert drew my attention to images of two such ‘white-collared’ Black-Winged Petrel taken on the Western Pacific Odyssey 2008 by Mike Danzenbaker and Tony Quinn.

In my note I also said "There is probably not much point in discussing the identity of this bird further until more examples are found, and that for me at least, Steve Wood's bird should remain as an unidentified Pterodroma". I will like to revised this statement too by saying that based on clear cut photographic evidences, the petrel photographed by Steve Wood's off Kermadec Islands is MOST LIKELY a 'white-collared' Black-Winged Petrel, at least until someone comes forward with new and well documented evidence to suggest that these could be a different species. I am adding "MOST LIKELY" since there are always caveats in trying to identify a petrel from a single image, and indeed Steve Wood's petrel still has what appears, at least superficially, to be distinctive black cap (see below).

Here is a brief summary of why the petrel photographed by Steve Wood off Kermadec Islands is MOST LIKELY a 'white-collared' Black-Winged Petrel:

1. Overall shape and proportions are most reminiscent of Black-Winged Petrel: it appears to be a rather compact small-sized Pterodroma, with rounded head and wings (the latter being relatively broad, and with short, rounded hand), and rather moderately/longish tail (i.e. resembling a medium-sized and quite heavy but compact cookilaria).

2. Diagnostic underwing pattern of Black-Winged Petrel: with conspicuous diagonal, bold and very broad black covert-band from bend of wing, extending well inward (almost to the armpit but not reaching body), and where narrows slightly, and with a broad black mark on the fore primary-coverts, the wing-tips and the trailing edge.

3. Rather bold dark breast-side patches: also characteristic of Black-Winged Petrel, but not conclusive.

Still one 'concession': the cap (combination of crown and eye-patch) seem to be too dark and solid compared to Black-Winged Petrels that I have seen and photographed. Conceivably, the capped appearance may be exaggerated in this one image by the harsh lighting, and this imaging artifact perhaps also contributes to the white-collared effect. Indeed, it seems that the eye-patch is slightly darker than the crown on Steve Wood's petrel.

Lastly, there is a strong match between Steve Wood’s petrel and the attached great images of Black-Winged Petrels by Mike Danzenbaker and Tony Quinn. These images shows that in a state of heavy wear, Black-Winged Petrels can develop a clear, but narrow, white collar on the hindneck.

The lesson I learned over the years in thinking about such cases is that the simplest explanations are most possibly the correct ones. That said, it is always a benefit to share ideas or to learn from others, and there is value in being flexible until more is known. Thus, Robert Flood and Brent Stephenson should be credited for their important input in considering the identity of the petrel photographed by Steve Wood's off Kermadec Islands, which as I have argue here, is MOST LIKELY an 'white-collared' Black-Winged Petrel. Thanks also to Mike Danzenbaker, Tony Quinn and Brent Stephenson for use of their excellent images.

Hadoram Shirihai, May 2008

European Storm-Petrel links

2008-06-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

Mousa Brock Storm Petrels a short essay by Hugh Harrop.
This striking Iron-Age stone fort (brock) in the Shetland Islands holds a colony of several thousand European Storm-Petrels.

Ponta da Alamadena, Algarve, Portugal: storm-petrel study site
Long-term ringing study of migrants by the A Rocha Bird Observatory in collaboration with Cardiff University. The number of recaptures from distant colonies (NW Spain, Scotland, Iceland) is very interesting. Approximately 8% of the European Storm-Petrels trapped at this site are already bearing a ring, or are later recaptured in north-west Europe. The results demonstrate the rapid movements of storm-petrels around this corner of the Atlantic. Many appear to be non-breeders apparently checking out potential nest burrows and mates for the future. Older, breeding birds, are apparently less attracted to tape lures.

Probable Swinhoe's Storm-Petrels from Atlantic, Mediterranean and Red Sea

2008-06-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

I've tabulated a very informal and incomplete list of reports from the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Red Seas of dark-rumped petrels that are presumed to be Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel.

ENGLAND
?? 'Chalice petrel' 3 Aug 1998 (ATS, ph, see Garner and Mullarney 2004)
Tynemouth Pier, Tyne. &. Wear, 19 & 26 July 1989 (Tp*)
Tynemouth Pier, Tyne. &. Wear, 7 July 1990 (Tp*)
Tynemouth Pier, Tyne. &. Wear, 31 July 1991 (Tp* controlled)
Tynemouth Pier, Tyne. &. Wear, July 1992 (Tp* controlled)
Tynemouth Pier, Tyne. &. Wear, July 1994 (Tp* controlled)
at sea off Scilly Islands, 21 July 2006 (ATS, Ph)
FRANCE
Banneg, Bretagne, 27 Jul 1989 (Tp, see Bretagnolle et al 1991)
GERMANY
Cuxhaven, Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), 24 Sept 2004 (see Aumüller et al. 2005)
NETHERLANDS
Camperduin, Bergen, Noord-Holland, 22 Sept 2004 (NOT ACCEPTED by CDNA)
NORWAY
Revekaien, Jaeren, Rogaland, 13 Aug 1996 (Tp)
Revekaien, Jaeren, Rogaland, 9 Aug 1997 (Tp*)
Revekaien, Jaeren, Rogaland, July 2000 (Tp* controlled)
Revekaien, Jaeren, Rogaland, Aug 2000 (Tp* controlled)
Revekaien, Jaeren, Rogaland, 5 Aug 2003 (Tp* controlled)
Hernyken, Nordland, Røst, 13 Aug 2006 (Tp)
IRELAND
Bridges of Ross, Clare, 15 Aug 1985 (?)
Great Skellig Rock, Kerry, 1 July 2000 (Tp)
ISRAEL (Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea)
Eilat, Jan 1958 (Sp)
North Beach, Eilat, 8 Sept 2001 (Sp, Tel Aviv Uni #AV15980, see Reuven et al. Sandgrouse 25:150-151)
Eilat, 19 Apr 2003 (ATS, Ph, Sp, see Granit and Smith 2004 Sandgrouse 26(1): 51-52)
North Beach, Eilat, Sept 2004
Eilat, 24 Jan 2008 (Sp)
ITALY
Genoa, Liguria, 11 Aug 1991 (see Arcamone et al. 1995)
Mid-Atlantic (between Sierra Leone and Brazil)
2, 04 deg 13' N, 19 deg 10'W (ATS, see Hales and Vaughn, 2003)
PORTUGAL
Ponta da Almadena, Luz, Algarve, 27 June 1998 (Tp, Ph)
SCOTLAND
Cove Harbor, Aberdeenshire, 5 Aug 2000 (Tp, Baxter and Scott)
Coll, Argyll, 10 May 2004
SELVAGENS ISLANDS, PORTUGAL
Selvagem Grande 29 Jun 1983 (Tp* see James and Robertson 1985)
1986 (Tp*)
Selvagem Grande 30 Jun 1988 (Tp, see Bretagnolle et al 1991)
17 Aug 2007 (Tp*)
SPAIN
Isla Benidorm, 13 Jul 1994 (Tp, see King and Minguez 1994)
Ses Bledes, Cabrera Is, 13 Aug 1997 (Tp, see McMinn and Dietrich 1997)
USA
Gulf Stream, North Carolina, Aug 1993 (ATS, see Brinkley 1995)
Gulf Stream, North Carolina, 8 Aug 1998 (ATS, Ph, see O'Brian et al. 1999)
Gulf Stream, North Carolina, 2 Jun 2008 (ATS, Ph, Patteson et al.)

ATS = At sea sighting
Ph = photographed
Sp = specimen
Tp = trapped & released
Tp* = trapped & released multiple times

Useful Citations:
-- Arcamone, E. et al., (1995) Comitato di Omologazione Italiano. Riv.Ital.Orn., 65:63-68.
-- Aumüller, R., Bock, C and Deutsch, M. (2005) Eine „dunkle Sturmschwalbe“ mit Merkmalen eines Swinhoewellenläufers Oceanodroma monorhis in Deutschland. http://www.club300.de/articles/003_swinhoe/index.html
-- Baxter and Scott. http://www.albaecology.co.uk/birdscot/docs/article3-4.htm
-- Bretagnolle, V., Carruthers, M., Cubitt, M., Bioret, F., and Cuillandre, J-P. (1991) Six captures of a dark-rumped, fork-tailed storm-petrel in the northern Atlantic. Ibis 133: p351-356.
-- Brinkley, ES. (1995) Dark-rumped storm-petrels in the North Atlantic. Birding 27: p95-97.
-- Cubitt, M. (1995) Swinhoe's Storm-petrels at Tynemouth: New to Britain and Ireland. British Birds 88: 342-348.
-- Garner and Mullarney (2004) A critical look at the evidence relating to 'the Chalice petrel'. British Birds 97:336 - 345.
-- Granit, B. and Smith, J.P. (2004) Another Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel Oceanodroma monorhis at Eilat. Sandgrouse 26(1): 51-52
-- Hales, S. and Vaughan, J. (2003) Dark-rumped Oceanodroma Storm-petrels in the central Atlantic Ocean. Atlantic Seabirds 5(2): 85-86.
-- James, PC., and Robertson, HA. (1985) First record of Swinhoe's Storm-petrel Oceanodroma monorhis in the Atlantic Ocean. Ardea 73: p105-106.
-- King, J. and Minguez, E. (1994) Swinhoe's Petrel: The first Mediterranean record. Birding World 7: p271-273.
-- McMinn, M. and Dietrich, P (1997) Captura de un paiño de Swinhoe Oceanodroma
monorhisen el islote de Ses Bledes, archipiélago de Cabrera. [A Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel Oceanodroma monorhiscaught on the islet of Ses Bledes, Cabrera]. l’ANUARI ORNITOLOGIC DE LES BALEARS :67
-- Morrison, S. 1998: All-dark petrels in the North Atlantic. British Birds 91: 540-560.
-- O'Brian, M. Patteson, JB., Armistead, GL., Pearce, GB. (1999) Swinhoe's Storm-petrel: First North American photographic record. North American Birds 53(1): p6-10.

World Seabird Conference Announcement

2008-06-10T04:57:00.000-07:00

In September 2010, the Pacific Seabird Group will host the World Seabird Conference in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Entitled "Seabirds: A Global Perspective" planned symposia will cover important topics such seabird & fishery interactions, climate change, Island restoration, seabird migration and life histories.

Successful rat eradication on Canna, Scotland

2008-06-09T03:49:00.000-07:00

The National Trust for Scotland announced the successful removal of Brown Rats (Rattus norvegicus) from the island of Canna off the west coast of Scotland (57.0579°, -6.54564°). Part of the Inner Hebrides, Canna has been plagued with an estimated 10,000 rats threatening nesting Manx Shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus), European Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) and Razorbill (Alca torda). Human residents, some 13 islanders (down from 436 in 1821) were also troubled by the infestation. Eradication was complicated by the presence of a unique population of Wood Mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) of Norse lineage that needed to be captured and re-released after the program was complete. Beginning in 2005, 4,388 traps were placed following a carefully plotted grid across the five-mile-long island. Chocolate-flavored baits have been placed to detect rats by their distinctive nibblings and after 2 years the island has been declared officially rat-free. The project was funded by the European LIFE Nature fund and Scottish Natural Heritage and cost an estimated £500,000 or £50/rat. The Canna Wood Mice are not known to pose any threat to seabirds.

Nesting seabirds are rebounding quickly, with only 27 successful Razorbill nests in 2005 growing to 273 in 2007 and European Shag going from 48 pairs in 2005 to 72 pairs in 2007. Canna once held one of the largest Shag colonies in Europe. Manx Shearwater (once 1,500 nesting pairs) failed entirely as a breeder for the past 10 years but birds have continued to visit the island and have already raised at least one chick. Hopefully the population will quickly rebound to former numbers.

North Carolina Paulagics

2008-06-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

Currently in Manteo, North Carolina enjoying some spectacular seabirding aboard the Country Girl out of Pirates Cove. We've seen good numbers of Pterodroma petrels with well over a hundred Black-capped Petrels and brief encounters with Bermuda (Cahow) and one, possibly two, Trindade (Herald) Petrels. Also South Polar Skua on 3 out of 4 days, plus playful Arctic Terns and many great looks at Band-rumped (Madeiran) and Leach's Storm-Petrels. Marine mammals included a pod of Cuvier's Beaked Whales and large numbers of Short-finned Pilot Whales. If you are near the Outer Banks, there are spaces on the boat for this coming Friday and Saturday. Check out the Paulagics web site for details. Come on Down!!

Seawatch - Long Island, New York, USA

2008-05-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

I seawatched twice today - early morning (6:00-7:30 am) and late evening
(6:40-8:05pm) from Amagansett near the eastern tip of Long Island (40.9694�,-72.1238�).The wind had turned to the SW-SSW overnight and slowly picked up in force during the day, so that the sea was quite disturbed by the evening watch with a blustery 18-20 mph wind. In the morning, a big congregation of gulls, cormorants and terns were feeding on bait fish off Indian Wells Beach and attracted a SOOTY SHEARWATER. Otherwise, passage was light, consisting mostly of loons and gannets. In the evening, the highlights were three MANX SHEARWATERS moving east. All three very close to the beach (250-300 yards)giving fantastic views, as well as some very distant SOOTY SHEARWATERS also moving east. By far the most abundant birds were Common Terns, a steady steam mostly working west against the wind. Quite a few Roseate Terns were mixed in. Laughing Gulls were numerous on both watches, with a good number being subadults.

** Morning Seawatch (6:00-7:30 am) **
SOOTY SHEARWATER - 1 (initial moving west but joined feeding frenzy)
Surf Scoter - 2
Black Scoter - 3
Red-throated Loon - 1
Common Loon - 39
Northern Gannet - 35
Double-crested Cormorant - 16
Laughing Gull - 36
Herring Gull - 50
Great Black-backed Gull - 19
Ring-billed Gull - 20
ROSEATE TERN - 25
Common Tern - 500 ++
Least Tern - 50+ (nesting on beach in front of seawatch)
Eastern Willet - 1
Short-billed Dowitcher - 2

** Evening Seawatch (18:50-20:10) **
MANX SHEARWATER - 3 (east 19:20, 19:26: 19:40)
SOOTY SHEARWATER - 4 (east 19:14, 20:00 and 20:05)
Black Scoter - 1
loon sp. - 1
Common Loon - 2
Northern Gannet - 75
Double-crested Cormorant - 3
Laughing Gull - 17
Herring Gull - 10
Great Black-backed Gull - 4
Ring-billed Gull - 19
BLACK SKIMMER - 2 (west)
ROSEATE TERN - 35++
Common Tern - 800 +++
Least Tern - 50+ (nesting on beach in front of seawatch)

Jim Enticott - author, guide and passionate seabird enthusiast

2008-05-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

I was sorry to learn from Trevor Hardaker of the passing of seabird authority Jim Enticott, a familiar name to many from his superb "Photographic Handbook of the Seabirds of the World" (1998 New Holland) coathored with photographer David Tipling. I had the good fortune to meet Jim in his adopted home of Cape Town, South Africa, when a group of us joined him for a lunch after returning from a tempestuous voyage to the pack-ice. His frank comments about the successes and failures of fishery protection efforts in the Southern Ocean, something he was passionately involved in, have always remained with me. Long-time acquaintances Trevor Hardacker and Dick Newell have already paid tribute to Jim in posts to Seabird-News, and I suspect there will be other many other tributes in the coming days and weeks.

Seawatch - Long Island, New York, USA

2008-05-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

I seawatched for just about an hour and a half this evening (6:40-8:05 pm) from Amagansett near the eastern tip of Long Island (40.9694°, -72.1238°). The sea was flat calm with very good visibility. There weren't many birds moving but the smooth sea and limited heat shimmer revealed a good number of lingering Common and Red-throated Loons in widely scattered groups on the water. Highlights were a MANX SHEARWATER moving west very close to the beach giving fantastic views as it followed a zigzaged route over the water. There was an interesting movement of BLACK SKIMMERS, with parties of two or three birds, all moving west. The shearwater came up behind two of skimmers and quickly passed them, showing just how fast shearwaters can move even in casual flight. Doubt I've ever seen Manx Shearwater and Black Skimmer in the same scope view before! A few minutes later a more distant SOOTY SHEARWATER winged its way east. My first of the year. A male and female WHITE-WINGED SCOTER floating off the beach were notable as they've become pretty scarce these past few weeks. A number of shorebirds were also noted moving east.

MANX SHEARWATER - 1 (west)
SOOTY SHEARWATER - 1 (east)
White-winged Scoter - 2 (male & fem.)
Surf Scoter - 4
Black Scoter - 42
Red-breasted Merganser - 4 (east)
Red-throated Loon - 9 (mix of plumage stages)
Common Loon - 35 (more than 50% non-alt. plumage)
Northern Gannet - 35
Double-crested Cormorant - 16
Laughing Gull - 3 (ads.) & 2 (subad.)
Herring Gull - 28
Great Black-backed Gull - 11
BLACK SKIMMER - 11 (all going west in 2's or 3's)
ROSEATE TERN - 5
Common Tern - 200 ++
Least Tern - 50+ (nesting on beach in front of seawatch)
Eastern Willet - 5 (east)
Black-bellied Plover - 1 (alt. east)
Piping Plover - 2 (east)
Semipalmated Plover - 5 (east)
Least Sandpiper - 1 (east)
Sanderling - 5 (east)

Albatrosses and Petrels Across the World by Michael Brooke

2008-05-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

A quick heads up that the OceanWanderers Book Shelf blog carries a brief review of Michael Brooke's wonderful addition to the Bird Families of the World series from Oxford University Press. This is a remarkably useful overview of all 126 extant species of tubenoses with great information on range, taxonomic affinities and names. There are 16 color plates by John Cox. My only gripe about the book is the shocking list price but you can probably find discounted or used copies for less.

Recommended reading or all seabird fanatics!

Rodent Control on the Phoenix and Line Islands

2008-05-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

A team headed by New Zealander Ray Pierce are on board the RV Bounty Bay en route for the Phoenix Islands (Kiribati) in the central Pacific with the goal of eradicating introduced rats that threaten 18-19 species of nesting seabirds including Phoenix Petrel Pterodroma alba, which is classified by the ICUN Red List as Endangered in large part because of vulnerability to predation by introduced rats and cats.

Three coral atolls (Mckean, Rawaki and Birnie) being targeted in this phase of the Pacific Invasives Initiative project form part of the 'Phoenix Islands Protected Area' (PIPA). Encompassing 8 atolls, PIPA was founded as collaboration between the Government of Kiribati, the New England Aquarium and Conservation International. Asian Rats Rattus tanezumi are the main problem on McKean (-3.6°, -174.133333°) and at thought to have arrived only recently, following the wreck a Korean fishing trawler. As the result, Blue Noddy Procelsterna cerulea no longer breeds on the island.

Population estimates for Phoenix Petrel are confused but probably do not exceed 30,000 spread across the Phoenix, Marquesas and Pitcairn Chains. The Phoenix Islands also provide important nesting grounds for Polynesian Storm-Petrel Nesofregetta fuliginosa, Blue Noddy and Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel.

Vanuatu Petrel - first live sighting?

2008-05-22T06:51:00.000-07:00

I noticed a short note to the letter page of Birdwatch magazine (June 2008 issue) from Steve Wood (New Zealand) drawing attention to a gadfly petrel he'd photographed in March 2006 near the Kermadec Islands, New Zealand, that is suggestive of Vanuatu Petrel Pterodroma occulta. The photo is reproduced on the Wrybill Birding Tours web site. It is not clear if there is a series of photographs and whether the bird struck him as unusual (e.g. small) in the field.

This very poorly known seabird was first described by Imber and Tennyson in 2001. Six specimens were obtained by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) Whitney South Sea Expedition in January 1927, near the Banks Islands but until more recently, not recognized as different from the very similar White-necked Petrel P. cervicalis. In 1983, an additional specimen was taken in northern New South Wales, Australia.

They are significantly smaller than White-necked and show a more expansive area of gray on the underside of the primaries and a broader dark leading edge to the underwing. White-necked Petrels typically show a less dark underprimaries (e.g. photo (Fig. 15) by Chris Collins on OceanWanderers taken on the 2006 WPO recce). However, a number of seasoned field observers have commented that the presence of darker primaries is not unique to the smaller form, a point that is also made from analysis of specimens in the Imber and Tennyson paper. Indeed, check out this wonderful shot taken by B Whylie on a Wollongong pelagic in March 2008. One interesting but tangential point is the repeated occurrence of pairs of very similar looking seabirds (often found together at sea) that differ markedly in size (Tahiti/Beck's, Fea's/Zino, Greater/Lesser Snow Petrel). What's up with that?

Some authors (e.g. Michael Brooke 2004) treat Vanuatu and White-necked as conspecific, at least until more is known, but the split has been acknowledged in the new Australian Checklist (Christidis and Boles 2008). An alternative name in the literature is Falla's Petrel in honor of the renowned ornithologist Sir Robert Alexander Falla. Obviously, seabirders in Australia and New Zealand are looking carefully at 'White-necked/Vanuatu' Petrels and I imagine more information will emerge, especially from birders visiting the waters around the Vanuatu islands. A dedicated chumming expedition, mirroring Hadoram Shirihai's rediscovery of Beck's Petrel in the Bismark Archipelago off Papua New Guinea, may be highly rewarding. I've seen it rumored on the web that Hadoram has photographed candidate Vanuatu's Petrels but have no other information. Perhaps he can chime in here?

The location of Wood's new sighting seems puzzling. The Kermadec Islands (specifically Macauley Island) are the world stronghold for White-necked Petrel with 50,000 nesting pairs, and relatively distant from the locations of the Vanuatuan and Australian specimens. Onley and Scofield (2007) speculate that the birds might breed on Mera Lava (where the types were collected in 1927) and other islands in the northern part of the Vanuatu archipelago. Mere Lava (sometimes spelled Mera Lava) is a small volcanic island 52 km southeast of Gaua in the Banks Group (-14.4629°, 168.042°).

Literature Citations:

Christidis, L. and Walter E Boles (2008) Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing.

Imber, M. J. and A.J.D. Tennyson (2001) A new petrel species (Procellariidae) from the south-west Pacific. Emu 101 (2): 123-127.

Wood, S. (2008) Another 'lost' petrel found? Birdwatch June 2008 Issue 192, p21.

UPDATE (25 May 2008): See Comments tab (below) for a response from Hadoram Shirihai.

Of Mice and Men - Enlarged rodents threaten Gough seabirds

2008-05-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

An article in the UK's Guardian Newspaper by environmental editor John Vidal reports on the extraordinary growth (literally) of accidentally introduced population of the House Mouse Mus musculus on Gough Island (-40.316667°, -9.916667°) in the South Atlantic. The mice grow to up to three times the size of ordinary house mice, and have adapted a carnivorous diet consuming albatross, petrel and shearwater chicks alive!

Albatross chicks weigh up to 10 kg and the mice weigh 35g. In the words of RSPB scientist Geoff Hilton, "it is like a tabby cat attacking a hippopotamus".Hints of the predatory behavior of the mice were obtained by Richard Cuthbert, a RSPB researcher, and Erica Sommer from Cape Town University after work on the island in 2000-2001. Their suspicion was confirmed by Cuthbert and Ross Wanless from the University of Cape Town’s Percy FitzPatrick Institute in 2005 with dramatic video footage of the attacks (Wanless et al. 2005).

Complete eradication of the mice is an urgent priority. Gough supports 20 species of nesting seabird including the Tristan (Wandering) Albatross Diomedea dabbenena and 99% of the world's Atlantic Petrels Pterodroma incerta. The 2008 IUCN Red List classifies both the albatross and petrel as 'Critically Endangered' and 'Endangered' respectively meaning that they are considered to be facing an extremely high (CE) or a very high (E) risk of extinction in the wild. It is estimated that 60% of Atlantic Petrel chicks (some 700,000/annum) die before fledging most as the result of mouse predation. The ground-nesting Gough Bunting Rowettia goughensis, an island endemic, is similarly threatened with imminent extinction unless something is done. Gough has a land mass of 35 square miles (91 km²) and a rodent population of 700,000 and upwards. Introduced rats have already decimated seabird populations on the main island of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, of which Gough is a part.

A £220,000 grant from the UK Government's 'Overseas Territories Environment Programme' has supported a provisional study to test the effect of dropping poisoned bait by helicopter, an approach used with great success by the New Zealand and Australian Governments. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is also contributing personnel to the rodent eradication effort. Fortunately, the equally important Inaccessible and Nightingale Islands are free of rats and mice thanks to the strict adherence to conservation guidelines introduced for all visits to these islands by the Tristan community.

Wanless RM, Angel A, Cuthbert RJ, Hilton GM, Ryan PG. Can predation by invasive mice drive seabird extinctions? Biol Lett. 2007 Jun 22;3(3):241-4.

Ashy Storm-Petrel: Candidate for Endangered Species Act Protection

2008-05-18T04:14:00.000-07:00

The Ashy Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma homochroa) is essentially endemic to the coast of California and Mexico with nesting colonies on offshore islands, notably the Southeast Farallons, San Miguel, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, San Clemente and Los Coronados and there are some smaller colonies on offshore rocks. Breeding is suspected at one mainland site. Although population censuses are difficult and are influenced by fluctuating oceanic conditions, there is evidence for a 42% over the past 20 years and BirdLife International quotes a high estimate of 10,000 for the entire world population.

Birds remain in the California Current system year-round, especially around the Continental Shelf-Break and are most easily found in Monterey Bay, the Santa Barbara Channel and Gulf of Farallons. The species is regularly encountered by pelagic birding trips out of Monterey Bay (e.g. Shearwater Journeys or 'Monterey Seabirds') where a large fraction of the World population gathers between August and November, numbers peaking in September and October. Large roost regularly form over the north rim of the Monterey Submarine Canyon and large numbers may also encountered on fall trips to the albacore fishing grounds. Ashy's are also seen from various trips out of San Diego aboard The Searcher.

On 15 May 2008, the US Government announced a full status review to determine whether the species warrants listing under the Endangered Species Act. This follows a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity. You can download a copy of the CBD petition here. Other prominent organizations have also expressed concern. BirdLife International for instance, has declared Ashy Storm-Petrel as Endangered and the National Aububon Society placed the species on their watchlist. Listing guarantees that federal agencies will be obligated to ensure that any action they authorize, fund, or carry out will not jeopardize the continued existence of the storm-petrel or adversely modify their habitat. In addition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would be required to prepare a recovery plan.

The US Fish & Wildlife Service was petitioned in October 2007 and is required to issue initial findings within 90-days. This did not happen and the CBD threatened legal action. The new deadline is set for 15 Oct 2008. Whilst it is very important for the CBD to keep the pressure on the US F&WS so that performs its job properly, the 90-day window seems a very short period in which to evaluate a poorly known species, and it is understandable that appropriate experts are in short supply. When it comes to potentially endangered species it is probably wise to err on the side of caution, granting a stop gap level of protection as the default if there is any hint that the petition has merit. Make a mistake and it might be too late before you realize it. The final decisions needs to be well-founded and enforceable because flip-flopping will only weaken the concept of Federal protection for wildlife and make it easier for commercial and political interests to undermine or ignore real conservation needs.

The CBD has spearheaded a three-year battle to list the Polar Bear as a federally 'threatened' species and met with success although the Government has already granted permission for oil exploration in key bear territory and the offer of protection comes with significant strings attached.

Seawatch - Long Island, New York, USA

2008-05-16T16:45:00.000-07:00

I seawatched for an hour this morning from Amagansett near the eastern tip of Long Island (40.9694°, -72.1238°). There was a steady trickle of Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) and Common Loons (Gavia immer) all moving east. The majority of gannets were 2nd Cal. birds with a smattering of other ages. All but two of the Common Loons were in full alternate plumage. Unfortunately, no tubenoses (1st Sooty Shearwaters of the year off Long Island were reported the evening before) but the sea was calm with light N to NW breeze and thus perhaps not ideal for passage.

Wood Duck - 1 (male flying east w 3 Surf Scoter)
Surf Scoter - 41
Black Scoter - 25
Red-throated Loon - 10 (mix of plumage stages)
Common Loon - 32 (all but 2 in alt. plumage)
Northern Gannet - 171 (majority 2nd cal. year)
Double-crested Cormorant - 48
Laughing Gull - 4 (ads.)
Herring Gull - 14
Great Black-backed Gull - 16
Common Tern - 56
Least Tern - 6+ (local nesters)
Black-bellied Plover - 1 (basic type)

Terns are back in small numbers on Cartwright Shoal (41.0295°, -72.1008°), a slender sandspit in Gardiners Bay. Of the birds feeding close to shore, I noted 10-15 Roseate Terns (Sterna dougalli) mixed in with 50+ Common Terns (S. hirundo), some with a nice pinkish blush and displaying to each other. An adult Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla) on Gardiner's Bay seemed unusual out here in the spring.

Arctic Seawatches - Spring movements of White-billed Divers

2008-05-14T20:03:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, Niklas Holmström of Torshälla, Sweden has created an excellent website describing the excellent spring seawatching possibilities from Slettnes in Northern Norway (71.0605°, 28.2447°). As it happens, he and group of intrepid seawatching enthusiasts are there at the moment, braving the cold of the arctic spring and filing timely reports (with photos) on Niklas' site. Take a look!

One of the most striking results is the number of White-billed Divers (aka Yellow-billed Loons) Gavia adamsii they are logging. For example, 73 on 9th May 2008 and 69 the following day. I appreciate the impressive movement of White-billed Divers along the Norwegian coast is not a new phenomenon (e.g. from Skogsøy near Bergen [60.552°, 4.79608°]) but it got me thinking if there was anywhere else where one can see this is striking diver in such numbers?

Migrants are seen in small numbers from spring (May/June) seawatches in Alaska such as near Gambell on St. Lawrence Island (63.7809°, -171.742°) and from Point Barrow (71.3881°, -156.48°) but to my knowledge, never in the same numbers. I imagine there might be hot spots in the Eastern Palearctic but can imagine there are few observers able to reach these more inaccessible regions.

Another pressing question is where the Norwegian birds that are seen from Skogsøy and Slettnes are wintering? Are they simply widely scattered around the coastlines of Scandinavia , Scotland and into the Baltic or do they concentrate in offshore areas? For more on the spring passage of divers off Norway see Folvik and Mjøs 1995 and Julian Bell's Natural Born Birder website.

Of course, divers are not the only birds of special note at Slettnes and heavy passages of Pomarine and Long-tailed Skuas (jaegers) and alcids are expected with a supporting cast of Gyrfalcon and three species of eider (Common, King and Steller's). Persistence might be rewarded with something really cool such as a Ross's or Ivory Gull.

Folvik, A., Mjøs, A.T. 1995. Spring migration of White-billed Divers past southwestern Norway. British Birds 88: 125-129

Is that dinner I can smell? - Olfaction plays major role in albatross foraging

2008-05-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

High-resolution global positioning system (GPS) devices provide a unique tool to study the foraging techniques of seabirds. A new study by Gabrielle Nevitt (University of California at Davis) and colleagues (Nevitt et al. 2008) suggests that Wandering Albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) use smell to locate food at least half of the time. GPS data was combined with measurements of stomach temperature to model how albatrosses find food. Odors emanating from prey will tend to disperse laterally and downwind of the odor source and acquire an irregular and patchy concentration distribution due to turbulent transport. For a seabird foraging over the ocean, the models suggests that an olfactory search would be facilitated by crosswind flight to optimize the probability of encountering a plume emanating from a prey item, followed by upwind, zigzag flight to localize the prey. Such flight patterns were observed in nearly half of the feeding events studies. Birds approaching prey by sight would be expected to fly directly to a prey item, irrespective of wind direction.

Nevitt GA, Losekoot M, Weimerskirch H. (2008) Evidence for olfactory search in wandering albatross, Diomedea exulans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A., 105(12):4576-81.

Weimerskirch H, Pinaud D, Pawlowski F, Bost CA.(2007) Does prey capture induce area-restricted search? A fine-scale study using GPS in a marine predator, the wandering albatross. Am Nat.170(5):734-43.

Nesting ecology of Magenta Petrel (Taiko) - It's a man's world

2008-05-07T07:06:00.000-07:00

A recent study by Hayley Lawrence and colleagues published in the Journal of Avian Biology (on-line ahead of print) describes the male-female ratio of the endangered Magenta Petrel Pterodroma magentae (aka Chatham Island Taiko). The world population is estimated at around 150 individuals with only 8-15 pairs known to have nested in recent years (Imber et al. 2005). Considerable effort is going into protecting and expanding the one known nesting colony located in dense scrub on the main Chatham Island (Rekohu/Wharekauri, decimal degrees -44.0705°, -176.634°). The new study summarizes genetic analysis of blood samples taken from fledglings and adults returning to the colony. As expected the sex ratio of chicks is close to parity, as of course are the pairs occupying burrows but the researchers find a striking dearth of females when they sample visiting adults. The males dig the nesting burrows and then attract females to them. The paucity of visiting females may help to explain the number of unpaired males. For examples, one male was at least 16 years old when he first bred. Conversely, most females are new breeders in the first season they are detected at burrows. The article does not specifically address the whereabouts of the 'missing females'. Have they perished before reaching breeding age (probably 7 years or longer) or is the density of territorial males too low to attract them to the colony where they can be sampled by researchers? A new colony at Sweetwaters south of the main Chathams settlement of Waitangi, that is being established within a fenced enclosure (to keep out introduced predators) will include an increased density of burrows and a slightly higher number of male chicks. Work on related petrel species such as Gray-faced Petrel (Pterodroma macroptera gouldi) has shown that males exhibit a stronger philopatric tendancy and will thus provide a stronger draw to passing females.

Hayley A. Lawrence, Craig D. Millar, Graeme A. Taylor, Linda D. Macdonald and David M. Lambert (2008) Excess of unpaired males in one of the World's most endangered seabirds, the Chatham Island taiko Pterodroma magentae. Journal of Avian Biology. On-line ahead of print.

M. J. Imber, G. A. Taylor, A. J. D. Tennyson, H. A. Aikman R. P. Scofield, J. Ballantyne, D. E. Crockett (2005) Non-breeding behaviour of Magenta Petrels Pterodroma magentae at Chatham Island, New Zealand. Ibis 147(4):758–763.

Seawatching Hot Spot - Slettnes, Arctic Norway

2008-05-06T12:20:00.000-07:00

Situated near Gamvik (decimal degrees 71.0605°, 28.2447°) on the northeastern tip of the Nordkinn (or Nordkyn) Peninsula in Finnmark, Norway, this rugged spot is well-situated for spring flights of skuas/jaegers, White-billed Divers (Yellow-billed Loons) and other seabirds moving eastward into the Barents Sea. Seawatching fanatic Niklas Holmström has created a dedicated Slettnes web site as part of his Seawatching.net platform. In addition to useful maps and travel information, he hopes to populate the site with seawatching results, photos and video. A number of video clips have already been uploaded and an extensive gallery of photos is scheduled to go on-line in June. Until then, check out the neat shot of a flock adult Pomarine Skuas/Jaegers - a taste of things to come.

Read all about it! - Recent Seabirding Articles

2008-04-29T22:03:00.000-07:00

Where possible PFTCS will briefly review articles in the popular and scientific birding literature relating to seabirds and other marine wildlife.

Here are four highly rewarding articles dealing with field identification and the rediscovery of very poorly known tubenoses. Seabird enthusiasts will enjoy reading each of them.

Greg Gillson (2008) Field Separation of Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwaters off the West Coast of North America. BIRDING March/April 2008 40(2):34-40. Click here for article as PDF.

Identification of Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwaters at sea or from land-based seawatches can be challenging and is covered that well by most field guides. This article visits the problem from the perspective of birders on the west coast of North America where Sooty Shearwaters are abundant and Short-tailed Shearwaters - apparently mostly juveniles - are present in smaller numbers. The article discusses salient field marks including a detailed discussion of differences in structure, flight style and behavior. My one niggle about the article is the layout and number of photos. Key comparison of the two species, either in flight or on the water, are not presented side-by-side and an ID article of this type really needs more photographs to properly convey the differences. I would like to have seen a close-up of the heads to illustrate the differences in bill length/depth and forehead shape. The painting comparing the two shearwaters in parallel flight is a little too stylized for my taste and over-emphasizes the differences. I appreciate that these things are usually beyond the authors control. Otherwise, this is a useful article that identifies a glaring gap in the popular birding literature. Gillson is one of the best known names in Oregon birding and has been running pelagic trips from Newport, Oregon, for a number of years.

Chris Harbard (2008) Beck from the Dead. BIRDWATCH April 2008 issue 190:28-29.

A concise and accessible account of the recent rediscovery of Beck's Petrel (Pseudobulweria becki) in the waters off New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. The tale begins with Rollo Beck - an ornithological collector of extraordinary talent - who took the first specimens in the late 1920's and picks up again in 2003 with Hadoram Shirihai who glimpsed three candidates during research visit to the Bismark Archipelago for his upcoming seabird books. Another tantalizing candidate was studied by birders on the 2007 WPO. Finally the dream came true in July/Aug 2007 when Hadoram mounted a one-man expedition to the area, successfully chumming in small flocks of fresh juveniles and a lesser number of adults. Armed with this new information, the 2008 WPO got excellent views of this pelagic jewel. The piece includes two spectacular flight shots of the gorgeous petrel (there's a larger version of the dorsal shot on the contents page) and an amusing action shot of Admiral Shirihai firing a fusillade of pixels aboard his skiff with a crew of local boatmen serving as helmsman and chummer respectively. Harbard is a regular columnist for Birdwatch and was assisted in this piece by well-traveled seabird fan Tony Pym.

Hadoram Shirihai (2008) Rediscovery of Beck’s Petrel Pseudobulweria becki, and other observations of tubenoses from the Bismarck archipelago, Papua New Guinea. Bull. B.O.C. 2008 128(1):3-16.

A scientific and highly readable paper that breaks into two parts. The first summarizes the background to the rediscovery with discussion of previous sightings, speculation on likely breeding sites, field identification and future conservation challengs. The second part describes other notable seabirds observed by the author during visits to the region. Foremost are multiple birds observed in 2003 and 2007 at various spots in and around New Britain PNG and New Ireland PNG, that resemble descriptions of Fiji Petrels (Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi). So little is know about this taxa that it is possible these are something else. The type specimen was taken in 1855 on the island of Gau in Fiji's Lomaiviti Archipelago (decimal degrees -18.066667°, 179.333167°). It was not recorded again until 1895 when an adult and fledgling were found by Dick Watling, again on Gau. Using spotlights, there have been a few more sightings from the island. It is worth stressing that the sightings described by Shirihi in this article as well as a similar bird spotted by Howell and companions on the 2007 WPO are almost exactly 2,000 miles from Gau and so it's probably good to keep an open mind about the species involved at this point. Hadoram plans a repeat visit to document these birds and I can imagine the well advertized rediscovery of Beck's Petrel will draw other seabird enthusiasts to the area, not least the annual swing through by the WPO en route to Japan. Definitely the cutting edge of seabirds discovery!

Steve N. G. Howell and J. Brian Patteson (2008) Variation in Cory's and Scopoli's Shearwaters. ALULA 1-2008 Vol 14: 12-21.

This richly illustrated article discusses field identification of Cory's Shearwater (Diomedea [d.] borealis) and Scopoli's Shearwater (Diomedea [d.] diomedea) with emphasis on birds studied off North Carolina, USA supplemented by photographs from the breeding grounds in the northeastern Atlantic or Mediterranean. The authors are quite candid about the difficulties involved, due to the subtle nature of the characters (principally differences in bill proportions, extent of white tongues on undersides of the primary feathers and relative color of the head) and our limited knowledge about the extent of variation. With respect to bill size for example, the differences between males and females needs to be appreciated. The bill of a female Cory's for example is very similar to that of a male Scopoli's. Lighting and angle are also very significant. Photos are presented showing the same two birds (one of each) but the differences are more obvious in one shot compared to the other. They also discuss a number of birds that seem indeterminant as well as some fairly clear cut examples. Even with these uncertainties, Scopoli's may be more common outside of the Mediterranean (e.g. in North American or Northern European waters) than is generally appreciated but for many individuals, it may not be possible to firmly ascribe them to (sub)species without a comprehensive set of photographs. There are probably quite a few 'Cory's' specimens held by local museums that will not have been critically evaluated and these may give a better sense of relative abundance. Some of the lessons provided by this study (including the numerical scoring system) can be applied to discussion of other shearwaters and case in point, the authors include a photo of two skins of Macaronesian (Baroli's) Shearwaters to illustrate the variability in a feature that has been described as diagnostic. Obviously that is whole different story but underscores the need for considerable caution in over-interpreting these types of plumage differences. Brian Patteson is synonymous with pelagic birding out of Virginia and the Outer Banks of North Carolina and sees large numbers of Cory's-type shearwaters at close hand during the summer months. Steve Howell is a recognized authority on seabird identification and although based in California, has been working with Patteson as a guide for several spring seasons.

**********

Name Game - Corrections/Updates

2008-04-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

27 Apr 08: I corrected my misspelling of Steller's Albatross. My thanks to Brian Patteson (North Carolina, USA) and Glen Tepke for pointing this out. Brian also comments:

Nowadays, we usually spell Trindade w/ just one "i" though in the past we spelled it Trinidade. It's Portuguese for Trinity, so maybe we should call it Trinity Petrel instead. Or maybe we should change it to Arminjon's Petrel per Pterodroma arminjoiana.

27 Apr 08: Andy Paterson (Torremolinos, España) wrote to say that Baroli's Shearwater has also been suggested as an option for Puffinus baroli. Not everyone in Spain is comfortable with 'Macaronesian Shearwater'.

27 Apr 08: Al Jaramillo (Half Moon Bay, California, USA) advised me that it should be the Desventuradas Islands ("The Unfortunate Islands") rather than the 'Des Venturadas' as I incorrectly copied from other sources. This remote Chilean archipelago (decimal coordinates -26.293°, -80.095°) consists of two significant islands, San Félix and San Ambrosio and hosts a number of breeding seabirds including almost the entire world population of De Filippi's (Masatierra) Petrels. The exact status of this species on the Juan Fernández Islands (-33.771°, -79.876°), some 513 miles to south is unclear but is probably in decline with only a few hundred breeding pairs.

29 Apr 08: Paul Hess (Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania, USA) provided a number of important corrections to names used in the previous blog entry including clarification that the correct Portuguese name is Ilha da Trindade [only one 'i'], not "Trinidade" as I and many others have spelled it. He also informs me that the AOU established an policy on English names in the 32nd Check-list Supplement (1973) and that adoption of Band-rumped Storm-Petrel was published in the 6th Edition of the AOU Checklist, although regrettably without providing an explicit rationale for the change.

29 Apr 08: Anyone interested in the evolution of bird names in general might want to checkout the History of North American Bird Names web page. It compares the names used in American Ornithologists' Union Checklists from 1886 until 2000. To pluck one example at random: European Blue Heron becomes European Heron and ends up as Gray Heron.

**********

The Name Game - a quick look at some of the more confusing seabird names

2008-04-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

On offshore trips, I sometimes hesitate before calling out a Puffinus gravis. Which is correct, GreatER Shearwater or Great Shearwater? The difference may seem minor and with either, the meaning is clear. But believe me, some folks take these details seriously and I have been corrected more than once!

Naming gets a great deal more complicated when one travels further afield or encounters seabirds with more significant naming issues than the extension or contraction of the English name. We all know about Parasitic Jaeger versus Arctic Skua, murres versus guillemots and so on. Common names come and go, sometimes providing clarity and at other times, confusion. Ultimately, the scientific name is what really matters but English names are useful for day-to-day discussion and in the field. Use of alternative names in trip reports, field guides and even specialized texts can be confusing.

In hopes of providing a little clarity, I've compiled an informal listing of some of the more confusing Procellariiformes names and in places indicate my own preferences. I should caveat this by saying that like many birders, I am woefully ignorant of naming conventions, rules of precedence and so on. Through this exercise, I hope to learn and the International Ornithological Congress English names web site seems a good place to start.

OK, so back to seabirds........

(1) New Zealand/Antipodean Albatross (Diomedea antipodensis)

Taxonomic treatments of the 'Wanderers' has always been controversial. As explained by Michael Brooke (2004), the move to separate antipodensis (nesting on Antipodes & Campbell Island, NZ) and gibsoni (nests on Auckland Islands, NZ) began in 1992 with work by Robertson and Warham and solidified in 1998 by Robertson and Nunn. Unfortunately, more recent mitochondrial DNA sequencing does not support the split leaving many authors retain the two populations as a single species but still distinct from other Wanderers. The choice of common name varies however. I lean towards New Zealand Albatross because all known nesting sites are within New Zealand territorial waters and are not limited to the Antipodes Island group.

Shirihai 2008 - treats Gibson's & Antipodean Albatrosses as separate possibly under exulans.
Silcock 2008 - (lumped together under Wandering A., NB: D. chionoptera rather than exulans)
Onley & Scofield 2007 - New Zealand Albatross
Clements 2007 - (lumped together under Wandering Albatross)
Gill & Wright 2006 - Antipodean Albatross (recognized as controversial split)
Brooke 2004 - Antipodean Albatross (antipodensis & gibsoni)
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - (lumped together under Wandering Albatross)
del Hoyo 1992 - (lumped together under Wandering Albatross)
Marchant & Higgins 1990 - (lumped together under Wandering Albatross)
Harrison 1987 - (lumped together under Wandering Albatross)

(2) Steller's/Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastris albatrus)

Not particularly controversial but occasionally one runs into the use of Steller's Albatross. Georg Wilhelm Steller was of course the German naturalist who sent albatross skins back to his sponsors in St Petersburg, Russia that he collected on his remarkable expedition to Kamchatka and Alaska. Short-tailed refers to the fact that the tail is shorter than other North Pacific species, a somewhat pedantic naming criteria and of little relevance in the field! That said, 'Short-tailed Albatross is preferred by the majority of texts and yet I can't help wondering if such a spectacular albatross doesn't deserve a more glowing epithet. At least Short-tailed is better than the Japanese name, 'Aho-dori', meaning 'stupid bird'!

Silcock 2008 - Short-tailed (Steller's) Albatross
AOU 2008 - Short-tailed Albatross
Onley & Scofield 2007 - Short-tailed Albatross
Clements 2007 - Short-tailed Albatross
Gill & Wright 2006 - Short-tailed Albatross
Birdlife International 2006 - Short-tailed Albatross
Brooke 2004 - Short-tailed Albatross
NGS 2002 - Short-tailed Albatross
Sibley 2000 - Short-tailed Albatross
AOU 1998 - Short-tailed Albatross
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - Short-tailed Albatross
Inskipp et al 1996 - Short-tailed Albatross
Howell & Webb 1995 - Short-tailed Albatross
del Hoyo 1992 - Short-tailed Albatross
Harrison 1987 - Short-tailed Albatross
Harrison 1983 - Short-tailed Albatross
AOU 1957 - Short-tailed Albatross

(3) Southern/Antarctic Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus)

The pairing of a geographic name (Antarctic) and honorific (Hall's) seems awkward. Northern and Southern are not perfect and do not help in the field but seem pretty well established. Perhaps 'Red-tipped' and 'Green-tipped' would have been better?

Shirihai 2008 - Southern Giant Petrel
Remsen et al. 2008 - Southern Giant-Petrel
Silcock 2008 - Antarctic (Southern) Giant-Petrel
Onley & Scofield 2007 - Southern Giant Petrel
Clements 2007 - Antarctic Giant Petrel
Gill & Wright 2006 - Southern Giant Petrel
Brooke 2004 - Southern Giant Petrel
Jaramillo 2003 - Southern (Antarctic) Giant-Petrel
AOU 1998 - Antarctic Giant-Petrel
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - Southern Giant Petrel
del Hoyo 1992 - Southern Giant Petrel
Marchant & Higgins 1990 - Southern Giant-Petrel
Harrison 1987 - Southern Giant Petrel
Harrison 1983 - Southern Giant Petrel

(4) Northern/Hall's Giant Petrel (Macronectes halli)

See comments above.

Shirihai 2008 - Northern Giant Petrel
Remsen et al. 2008 - Northern Giant-Petrel
Silcock 2008 - Hall's (Northern) Giant-Petrel
Onley & Scofield 2007 - Northern Giant Petrel
Clements 2007 - Hall's Giant Petrel
Gill & Wright 2006 - Northern Giant Petrel
Brooke 2004 - Northern Giant Petrel
Jaramillo 2003 - Northern (Hall's) Giant-Petrel
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - Northern Giant Petrel
del Hoyo 1992 - Northern Giant Petrel
Marchant & Higgins 1990 - Northern Giant-Petrel
Harrison 1987 - Northern Giant Petrel
Harrison 1983 - Northern Giant Petrel

(5) Trindade/Trinidade/Herald Petrel (Pterodroma arminjoniana)

The name Trindade (often incorrectly rendered Trinidade) refers to the Brazilian Ilha da Trindade (-20.525°, -29.325°) in the South Atlantic and it is possible that some birds also breed on the Martin Vaz Islands (-20.5°, -28.85°) some 45 km to the east. More surveys are desperately needed. Similar birds now nest on Round Island (-19.850°, 57.783°) in the Indian Ocean and the exact relationship in controversial. There seems to be an increasing trend towards the use of Trindade to acknowledge differences from the more abundant Herald Petrel (P. heraldica) of the South Pacific.

AOU 2008 - Herald Petrel
Remsen et al. 2008 - (lumped under Herald Petrel?)
Onley & Scofield 2007 - Trinidade Petrel
Clements 2007 - (lumped under Herald Petrel)
BirdLife International 2006 - Trindade Petrel
Gill & Wright 2006 - Trindade Petrel
Brooke 2004 - Trinidade Petrel
NGS 2002 - Heral Petrel
Sibley 2000 - Herald Petrel
AOU 1998 - (lumped under Herald Petrel)
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - (lumped under Herald Petrel)
del Hoyo 1992 - (lumped under Herald Petrel)
Harrison 1987 - (lumped under Herald Petrel)
Harrison 1983 - (lumped under Herald Petrel)
AOU 1957 - South Trinidad Petrel
Murphy 1936 - South Trinidad Petrel

(6) De Filippi's/Masatierra Petrel (Pterodroma defilippiana)

There seems to be two competing names with different approaches to the formatting. Mas a Tierra refers to the island (also called Robinson Crusoe) in the Juan Fernandez Group. The South American Checklist Committee considered (but rejected) the alternative 'De Filippi's Petrel'. The bulk of the population nests on San Ambrosio (10,000 plus pairs) in the Desventuradas Islands of Chile (decimal coordinates -26.293°, -80.095°).

Shirihai 2008 - De Filippi's Petrel
Remsen et al. 2008 - Masatierra Petrel
Silcock 2008 - De Filippi's Petrel
Onley & Scofield 2007 - De Filippi's Petrel
Clements 2007 - Defilippe's Petrel (note contrary spelling, typo?)
Gill & Wright 2006 - De Filippi's Petrel
Birdlife International 2006 - De Filippi's Petrel
Brooke 2004 - Defilippi's Petrel
Jaramillo 2003 - Masatierra (De Filippi's) Petrel
AOU 1998 - Defilippi's Petrel
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - De Filippi's Petrel
del Hoyo 1992 - Mas a Tierra Petrel
Harrison 1987 - Masatierra Petrel
Harrison 1983 - Masatierra Petrel
Murphy 1936 - Mas Atierra Petrel

(7) Fea's/Cape Verde Petrel (Pterodroma feae)

Fea's has gained popularity because it recognizes the fact that these gadfly petrels nest on both the Desertas Islands (specifically Bugio) and Cape Verdes. Breeding is also suspected in the Azores but not proven. Some texts use the local (French?) name of 'Gon-gon'.

Onley & Scofield 2007 - Fea's Petrel
Clements 2007 - Cape Verde (Fea's) Petrel
Gill & Wright 2006 - Fea's Petrel
Birdlife International 2005 - Fea's Petrel
Brooke 2004 - Fea's Petrel
NGS 2002 - Fea's Petrel
Sibley 2000 - Fea's Petrel
Mullarney et al. 2000 - Fea's Petrel
Beaman & Madge 1998 - Fea's Petrel
AOU 1998 - Fea's Petrel
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - Fea's Petrel
del Hoyo 1992 - Cape Verde Petrel
Harrison 1987 - (lumped under Soft-plumaged Petrel)
Harrison 1983 - (lumped under Soft-plumaged Petrel)
Murphy 1936 - (lumped under Soft-plumaged Petrel)

(8) Zino's/Madeira Petrel (Pterodroma madeira)

Although geographically accurate, I am not sure Madeira Petrel has gained much traction because of the potential confusion with Madieran Storm-Petrel. Zino's Petrel recognizes Portuguese ornithologist Paul Alexander Zino (1916-2004), who initiated the study and conservation of both Pterodroma madeira and Pterodroma feae. Some texts (e.g. Lars Jonsson's Birds of Europe 1992) use the local name 'Freira'.

Onley & Scofield 2007 - Zino's Petrel
Clements 2007 - Madeira (Zino's) Petrel
Gill & Wright 2006 - Zino's Petrel
Birdlife International 2007 - Zino's Petrel
Brooke 2004 - Zino's Petrel
Mullarney et al. 2000 - Zino's Petrel
Beaman & Madge 1998 - Zino's Petrel
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - Zino's Petrel
del Hoyo 1992 - Madeira Petrel
Harrison 1987 - Not recognized.

(9) Cahow/Bermuda Petrel (Pterodroma cahow)

Cahow is the local name and might mimic the moaning call of breeding birds. The increased use of this over Bermuda Petrel shows respect for island heritage and provides an endorsement for on-going and urgent conservation efforts that will rely on strong and continuous support from the local community. The same reasoning applies to increasing use of 'Taiko' over Magenta Petrel in New Zealand and the Chatham Islands.

AOU 2008 - Bermuda Petrel
Onley & Scofield 2007 - Cahow
Clements 2007 - Bermuda Petrel
Gill & Wright 2006 - Cahow
Birdlife International 2006 - Bermuda Petrel
Brooke 2004 - Cahow
NGS 2002 - Bermuda Petrel
AOU 1998 - Bermuda Petrel
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - Bermuda Petrel
del Hoyo 1992 - Bermuda Petrel
Harrison 1987 - Bermuda Petrel
Harrison 1983 - Bermuda Petrel
AOU 1957 - Bermuda Petrel

(10) Parkinson's/Black Petrel (Procellaria parkinsoni)

Named in honor of S. Parkinson, draughtsman to Sir Joseph Banks aboard HMS Endeavour (Marchant and Higgins 1990). I find Black Petrel a little confusing because all three members of the Procellaria are essentially black. Thus the name does not distinguish this species from the others. Westland Petrel (Procellaria westlandica) was originally considered conspecific with P. parkinsoni and at places is still referred to as Westland Black Petrel, a practice discouraged by Marchant & Higgins. In my view, Parkinson's works well because it is easy on the tongue/pen and is unique.

Shirihai 2008 - Black Petrel
Remsen et al. 2008 -Parkinson's Petrel
Silcock 2008 - Black (Parkinson's) Petrel
AOU 2008 - Parkinson's Petrel
Onley & Scofield 2007 - Parkinson's (Black) Petrel
Clements 2007 - Parkinson's Petrel
Gill & Wright 2006 - Black Petrel
Birdlife International 2006 - Black Petrel
Brooke 2004 - Parkinson's Petrel
AOU 1998 - Parkinson's Petrel
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - Parkinson's or Black Petrel
Heather & Robertson 1997 - Black Petrel
Howell & Webb 1995 - Parkinson's (Black) Petrel
del Hoyo 1992 - Black Petrel
Marchant & Higgins 1990 - Black Petrel
Harrison 1987 - Parkinson's Petrel
Harrison 1983 - Parkinson's Petrel

(11) Tropical Shearwater (Puffinus bailloni)

The splitting of P. bailloni and P. persicus, under the banner of Tropical Shearwater, away from Audubon's (P. lherminieri) was first advocated by Austin, Bretagnolle and Pasquet in 2004. Sometimes referred to as Baillon's Shearwater, a name that might return to common parlance if the need to distinguish between Indian and Ocean birds becomes generally accepted. In other words, Tropical might get divided into Baillon's and Atoll or something similar.

Silcock 2008 - Tropical Shearwater
Onley & Scofield 2007 - Tropical Shearwater
Clements 2007 - (lumped under Audubon's Shearwater)
Gill & Wright 2006 - Tropical Shearwater
Brooke 2004 - (lumped under Audubon's Shearwater)
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - (lumped under Audubon's Shearwater)
del Hoyo 1992 - (lumped under Audubon's Shearwater)
Harrison 1987 - (lumped under Audubon's Shearwater)
Harrison 1983 - (lumped under Audubon's Shearwater)

(12) Atoll Shearwater (Puffinus dichrous)

As discussed on Seabird-News (see here & here), this attractive name seems to have been coined by Steve Howell to describe the subdivision of Tropical Shearwaters (see above) found in the SW Pacific (dichrous) to differentiate them from populations (bailloni) in the central Indian Ocean (Mascarene Islands, Seychelles, Maldives etc).

Onley & Scofield 2007 - Tropical Shearwater
Clements 2007 - (lumped under Audubon's Shearwater)
Gill & Wright 2006 - Not discussed.
Brooke 2004 - (lumped under Audubon's Shearwater)
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - (lumped under Audubon's Shearwater)
del Hoyo 1992 - (lumped under Audubon's Shearwater)
Harrison 1987 - (lumped under Audubon's Shearwater)
Harrison 1983 - (lumped under Audubon's Shearwater)

(13) Macaronesian Shearwater (Puffinus baroli)

Macaronesia is a collective name for five archipelagos in the eastern North Atlantic (Azores, Madeira, Selvagens Islands, Canary Islands, and Cape Verde Islands). This relatively new name to be catching on and I've not seen any significant criticism. It acknowledges the split by the British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) of P. a. baroli and P. a. boydi (collectively Macaronesian Shearwater) from monotypic Audubon's Shearwater (P. lherminieri) in the North Atlantic and from southern hemishperic Little Shearwaters (Puffinus assimilis)(Sangster et al 2005). The scientific name acknowledges Carlo Barolo, either an Italian gentleman or a fine Tuscan wine. I'd better return to the cellar for some more research!

Onley & Scofield 2007 - Macaronesian Shearwater
Clements 2007 - (lumped under Little Shearwater)
Gill & Wright 2006 - Macaronesian Shearwater
BOU 2005 - Macaronesian Shearwater
Brooke 2004 - (lumped under Little Shearwater)
Mullarney et al. 2000 - Little Shearwater
Beaman & Madge 1998 - Little Shearwater
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - (lumped under Little Shearwater)
del Hoyo 1992 - (lumped under Little Shearwater)
Harrison 1987 - (lumped under Little Shearwater)
Harrison 1983 - (lumped under Little Shearwater)

(14) Elliot's/White-vented Storm-Petrel (Oceanites gracilis)

The species was first described in the scientific literature by Daniel G. Elliot in 1859 (Brook 2004). White-vented might cause confusion with White-bellied Storm-Petrel (Fregatta grallaria).

Remsen et al. 2008 - Elliot's Storm-Petrel
Silcock 2008 - White-vented (Elliot's) Storm-Petrel
Onley & Scofield 2007 - Elliot's Storm-petrel
Clements 2007 - White-vented Storm-Petrel
Gill & Wright 2006 - White-vented Storm Petrel
Brooke 2004 - White-vented Storm Petrel
Jaramillo 2003 - Elliot's (or White-vented) Storm-Petrel
AOU 1998 - White-vented Storm-Petrel
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - Elliot's (or White-vented) Storm-petrel
del Hoyo 1992 - Elliot's Storm-petrel
Harrison 1987 - Elliot's Storm-petrel
Harrison 1983 - Elliot's Storm-petrel
Murphy 1936 - Elliot's Storm Petrel

(15) Band-rumped/Madeiran Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma castro)

It has always surprised me that this naming schism has not been resolved in the popular literature. Band-rumped is common parlance for Northern American birders, referring mainly to sightings from the Gulf Stream, where the species is reasonably common, the Gulf of Mexico and Hawaiian chain where it breeds. Madeiran is used more by Europeans but is limited by the fact that the species is so cosmopolitan. The type specimen was taken off Desertas near Madeira and formally described by (amateur) ornithologist Edward Harcourt. The name Harcourt's Petrel is still occasionally used in print but seems to be less frequent nowadays. Some have suggested 'Madeira Petrel' as an alternative for Zino's Petrel (Pterodroma madeira) which makes more geographic sense. There is evidence for separate 'warm' and 'cold' nesting season populations at several Band-rumped/Madeiran colonies and the naming issues may get pretty interesting if these colocalized populations are elevated to subspecific or specific status or if storm-petrels in the Pacific and Atlantic are deemed distinct.

AOU 2008 - Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
Remsen et al. 2008 - Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
Silcock 2008 - Band-rumped (Madeiran, Harcourt's) Storm-Petrel
Onley & Scofield 2007 - Madeiran Storm-petrel
Clements 2007 - Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
Gill & Wright 2006 - Band-rumped Storm Petrel
Brooke 2004 - Madeiran Storm Petrel
NGS 2002 - Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
Sibley 2000 - Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
Mullarney et al. 2000 - Madeiran Storm-petrel
Beaman & Madge 1998 - Madeiran Storm-petrel
AOU 1998 - Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - Madeiran (or Band-rumped) Storm-petrel
Inskipp et al 1996 - Band-rumped Storm-petrel
Howell & Webb 1995 - Harcourt's (Band-rumped) Storm-Petrel
del Hoyo 1992 - Madeiran Storm-petrel
Harrison 1987 - Madeiran Storm-petrel
Harrison 1983 - Madeiran Storm-petrel
AOU 1957 - Harcourt's Petrel
Murphy 1936 - Madeiran Storm Petrel

(16) British/European Storm-Petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus)

Whilst 'British' might stroke the egos of my countrymen, it seems plain wrong. As Michael Brooke points out, Britain hosts around 85,000 pairs out of world breeding population of 526,000 pairs. 'European' seems a much better fit for a nesting range that extends from Norway and Iceland and down into the Mediterranean as far the Adriatic.

AOU 2008 - European Storm-Petrel
Onley & Scofield 2007 - European Storm-petrel
Clements 2007 - European Storm-Petrel
Gill & Wright 2006 - European Storm Petrel
Brooke 2004 - European Storm Petrel
Mullarney et al. 2000 - (European) Storm-petrel
Beaman & Madge 1998 - European Storm-petrel
AOU 1998 - European Storm-Petrel
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - British (or European) Storm-petrel
del Hoyo 1992 - European Storm-petrel
Harrison 1987 - British Storm-petrel
Harrison 1983 - British Storm-petrel
AOU 1957 - Storm Petrel

(17) Polynesian/White-throated Storm-Petrel (Nesofregetta fuliginosa)

The description 'white-throated' would fit Hornby's and White-faced Storm-Petrel (Pelagodroma marina). Although I haven't looked at it carefully, 'Polynesian' seems a reasonable approximation of the known range.

Silcock 2008 - Polynesian (White-throated) Storm-Petrel
Onley & Scofield 2007 - Polynesian Storm-Petrel
Clements 2007 - Polynesian Storm-Petrel
Gill & Wright 2006 - Polynesian Storm Petrel
Brooke 2004 - White-throated Storm Petrel
Jaramillo 2003 - Polynesian (White-throated) Storm-petrel
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - White-throated or Polynesian Storm-petrel
del Hoyo 1992 - Polynesian Storm-petrel
Harrison 1987 - White-throated Storm-Petrel
Harrison 1983 - White-throated Storm-petrel

(18) Hornby's/Ringed Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma hornbyi)

Although attractive and distinctive, 'Hornby' is an honorific for a British Admiral who's brother was a prominent zoologist. As far as I can tell, Admiral Hornby had no actual connection to the storm-petrel, although it is possible that it was collect by a ship belonging to his squadron. I believed 'Ringed' refers to the narrow collar but on that grounds the same name might be applied to Polynesian Storm-Petrel. See the useful discussion on this by the South American Checklist Committee . In 2007, the AOU Checklist Committee (48th Supplement) adopted Ringed Storm-Petrel based on the August 2005 sighting off California. Prior to this, the species (Hornby's Petrel) was listed as hypothetical in the AOU region.

AOU 2008 - Ringed Storm-Petrel
Remsen et al. 2008 - Ringed Storm-Petrel
Silcock 2008 - Ringed (Hornby's) Storm-Petrel
Onley & Scofield 2007 - Hornby's Storm-petrel
Clements 2007 - Ringed Storm-Petrel
Gill & Wright 2006 - Hornby's Storm Petrel
Brooke 2004 - Hornby's Storm Petrel
Jaramillo 2003 - Hornby's (Ringed) Storm-Petrel
AOU 1998 - Ringed Storm-Petrel
Enticott & Tipling 1997 - Hornby's (or Ringed) Storm-petrel
del Hoyo 1992 - Hornby's Storm-petrel
Harrison 1987 - Hornby's Storm-petrel
Harrison 1983 - Hornby's Storm-petrel
AOU 1957 - Hornby's Petrel
Murphy 1936 - Hornby's Petrel

As I said, this is an informal survey and I freely acknowledge that there likely to be errors, omissions and personnel perceptions. Further guidance would be warmly received.

Key Citations:

-- American Ornithologists Union (2008) The A.O.U. Check-list of North American Birds, Seventh Edition & supplements. On-line.
-- American Ornithologists Union (1998) The A.O.U. Check-list of North American Birds, Seventh Edition. Allen Press, Inc.
-- American Ornithologists Union (1957) The A.O.U. Check-list of North American Birds, Fifth Edition. The Lord Baltimore Press, Inc.
-- Austin, J., Bretagnolle, V. and Pasquet, E. (2004) A global molecular phylogeny of the small Puffinus shearwaters and implications for the systematics of the little-audubon's shearwater complex. Auk 121(3): 847-864.
-- Beaman, M. and Madge, S. (1998) The Handbook of Bird Identification for Europe and the Western Palearctic. Princeton University Press.
-- Brooke, M. (2004) Albatrosses and Petrels across the World. Oxford University Press.
-- Clements, J.F. (2007) The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World (6th edition). Cornell University Press.
-- del Hoyo, J. et al. (1992) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions. [HBW]
-- Enticott, J. & Tipling, D. (1997) Seabirds of the World: the complete reference. Stackpole Books.
-- Gill, F. and Wright, M. (2006) Birds of the World: Recommended English Names. Princeton University Press
-- Harrison, P. (1987) A Field Guide to Seabirds of the World. Stephen Green Press.
-- Harrison, P. (1983) Seabirds: An Identification Guide. Houghton Mifflin.
-- Heather, B.D. & Robertson, H.A. (1997) The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Oxford University Press.
-- Howell, S.N.G., and Webb, S. (1995) The Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press.
-- Inskipp, T., Lindsay, N., and Duckworth, W. (1996) An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of the Oriental Region. Oriental Bird Club.
-- Jaramillo, A. (2003) Birds of Chile. Princeton University Press.
-- Marchant, S. and Higgins, P. J. (1990) Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press, Melbourne. [HANZAB]
-- Mullarney, K., Svensson, L., Zetterstrom, D, and Grant P.J. (2000) Collins Bird Guide. Collins.
-- Murphy, R. C. (1936) Oceanic Birds of South America. The Macmillan Company.
-- National Geographic Society (2002) Field Guide to Birds of North America - Fourth Edition. National Geographic.
-- Onley, D. and Scofield, P. (2007) Albatrosses, Petrels and Shearwaters of the World. Christopher Helm/Princeton University Press.
-- Remsen, J. V., Jr., C. D. Cadena, A. Jaramillo, M. Nores, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, T. S. Schulenberg, F. G. Stiles, D. F. Stotz, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 2008. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithologists' Union.
-- Sangester, G., Collinson, J.M., Helbig, A.J., Knox, A.J. and Parkin, D.T. (2005) Taxonomic recommendations for British birds: third report. Ibis 147 (4), 821–826.
-- Shirihai, H. (2008) The Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife. Princeton University Press.
-- Sibley, D. A. (2000) National Audubon Society: The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A Knopf.
-- Silcock, R. (2008) Birds of the Pacific: A Birder's Checklist. www.rosssilcock.com

**********

More updates from the 2008 Western Pacific Odyssey

2008-04-23T10:50:00.001-07:00

Could this be the seabirding equivalent of the moonlandings? The world watching with baited breath? It's Day 21 of the 2008 Western Pacific Odyssey and the expedition has reached Chuuk an island group in the southwestern Pacific (7 deg, 0 min, 0 sec N, 152 deg , 0 min, 0 sec E) with many spectacular bird and marine mammal sightings under their belt. Photos of New Zealand Storm-Petrel, Polynesian Storm-Petrel and Beck's Petrel have been posted on the WildWings web site.

Click here for the latest from the 2008 WPO

Satellite Tracking of Midway Albatrosses

2008-04-22T22:04:00.000-07:00

Researchers from the Long Marine Laboratories, University of California at Santa Cruz, are using satellite telemetry to follow the movements of Black-footed and Laysan Albatrosses from the sizeable colonies on Midway Atoll (28.2°, -177.35°) in the Northwest Hawaiian chain.

Click this link to visit the "Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP)" web site.

**********

Storm-Petrel Identification

2008-04-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

Dave Lauten sent me these photographs of a storm-petrel taken by Andrew Martin, a friend of his currently aboard the R/V Melville at sea near Guam.

Andrew Martin writes, "I was fishing for dinner earlier, and a bunch of these little guys were hanging out. what kind of bird was it? my best guess is that it is 1 to 1.5 feet total wing span. it would hover just above the water with its feet gently touching down and kind of walking on water, and then it would pick things off the surface of the water to eat. then it would fly a bit and do the same thing".

The main candidates in this part of the world would be Swinhoe's, Matsudaira's and I suppose, Tristram's. The white bases to the primaries are quite obvious in all three images. At first glance, I am inclined to agree with Dave that these are probably Matsudaira's. The key points are the extent of the white primary bases, the whitish and broad carpal bar, steep forehead and relatively large bill.

**********

UPDATE (23 April 2008) There seems to be sweeping agreement that these are MATSUDAIRA'S STORM-PETREL (Oceanodroma matsudairae), an expected species in this part of the Pacific. Thanks to Gail Mackiernan, Jim Danzenbaker, Doug Pratt, Dave Lauten and Andrew Martin for their contributions.

**********

Rethinking Europe's White-bellied Storm-Petrel and Cape Gannet

2008-04-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

In two recent issues of Dutch Birding (see citations below), Pierre-André Crochet and Marcel Haas published short articles arguing for (declaring?) for the removal of White-bellied Storm-Petrel (Fregetta grallaria) and Cape Gannet (Morus capensis) from the Western Palearctic list.

It isn't clear to me whether these pronouncements come in an official capacity (as the article titles would suggest) or merely recommendations of concerned members of the ornithological community. Regardless, both cases are compelling and the story of the Cape Gannet provides a particularly interesting lesson in retrospective interpretation of specimen data.

White-bellied Storm-Petrel: The addition of White-bellied Storm-Petrel is based on a sight report made at sea (23.48 N, 22.01 W, 17 Aug 1986) between the Canary and Cape Verde Islands. Expert evaluation of the description by Mike Imber, Tony Palliser and Paul Scofield concluded that the description is not sufficient to rigorously exclude Black-bellied Storm-Petrel (F. tropica). As an interesting aside, Crochet and Haas mention a 'white-bellied' population of Black-bellied Storm-Petrels nesting on Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic. Tristan da Cunha seems a reasonable point of origin for non-breeding birds venturing into the North Atlantic but the taxonomic status of these populations seems confusing and ultimately might impact future records. In Albatrosses, Petrels and Shearwaters of the World (2007 Helm/A&C Black/Princeton UP), Derek Onley and Paul Scofield state that both Black-bellied (F. t. melanoleuca) and White-bellied Storm-Petrel (F. g. leucogaster) nest in the archipelago and that the latter are morphometrically closer to Black-bellied than other populations. I would be interested to hear more about these birds and whether there are any DNA studies that might address their affinities. Photographs of either species taken at sea near the islands might also be interesting. Getting back to the main thread, another concern with the Western Palearctic sighting is the fact that three unambiguous Black-bellied Storm-Petrels have been now been photo-documented off North Carolina USA (31 May 2004, 16 July 2006 & 23 June 2007), further reinforcing the necessity for a water-tight description or better still photographs or specimen to document occurrence in the WP.

Cape Gannet: Inclusion of Cape Gannet is based on a single ring (band) return with a wonderfully convoluted back story. The ring information was transmitted by the Moscow Ringing Center to SAFRING in Cape Town stating the ring number, 30 May 1966 recovery date and recovery locality "21:40 N, 13:55 E". In the SARING records, '17deg 00, Western Sahara' was hand written over the locality information, the reason being that 21:40 N, 13:55 E is in the desert of northern Chad!

Crochet and Haas consider it likely that a Russian fisherman submitted the original ring information to the MRC, as there was an extensive Soviet fishing fleet operating off Africa. They are troubled, however, by the fact that the original coordinates were most likely wrong. Rather than making up new coordinates (as appears to have been done by anonymous author of the hand written note) they considered the common mistake of mixing up N and S or E and W. Swapping E & W puts the gannet much further into the desert but changing the N/S coordinate to 21:40 S, 13:55 E places the bird a few miles off the coast of Namibia where Cape Gannet is abundant. Indeed the MRC has many Cape Gannet ring recoveries from this area made by Soviet trawlers. They quote Terry Oatley of SAFRING "It is far more likely that the Russian Ringing Center mislabelled the latitudinal co-ordinates N out of force of habit (since the vastmajority of recoveries processed by them are from the northern hemisphere, and the same error was finding its way into the Euring data band when I visited it in 1994)". This strikes me as an elegant piece of detective work and provides the simplest reinterpretation of the original coordinates.

Apparently there are no other credible reports of Cape Gannet from the Western Palearctic but I recall an article in BIRDWATCH magazine some years back discussing sightings of candidates from southern Spain. What's the story there? Like many seabird enthusiasts on the eastern seaboard of the United States, I keep an eye on migrating Northern Gannets in hopes of finding a Cape. Given the movement of both species towards the tropics, vagrancy would not seem impossible.

Crochet, P-A. and Haas, M. (2008) Western Palearctic list update: deletion of White-bellied Storm-Petrel. Dutch Birding 30(2):103-104.

Crochet, P-A. and Haas, M. (2008) Western Palearctic list update: deletion of Cape Gannet. Dutch Birding 30(1):17-18.

I thank Brian Patteson for updating me on the NC storm-petrel sightings.

Winging It - Welcome return of the pelagic issue

2008-04-07T06:48:00.000-07:00

Bill Maynard, editor of the American Bird Association (ABA) newsletter Winging It has wisely reinstated the annual 'pelagic' issue (Feb 2008). Besides the 14 pages dedicated to detailed listings of pelagic birding trips in ABA region waters (USA, Canada and Mexico) there are three overview articles.

Brian Patteson "Pelagic Birding off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina." Winging It 20(1):1-5.

Brian provides an update on the year-round pelagic birding off the Outer Banks of North Carolina, highlighting the remarkable diversity of birds and continued mysteries.

W. Terry Hunfeld "Deep Water Seabirding: The Final Frontier." Winging It 20(1):6-7.

The use of 'live-aboard' vessels such as the 'Searcher' have made it easier for Californian birders to explore the deep waters west or southwest of San Diego. Regional and national rarities are found on most trips and there is a strong possibility major new discoveries.

Brad Benter "It Was So Unbelievable, You Almost Wouldn't Believe It!" Winging It 20(1):9.

An personnal account of seeing several Short-tailed Albatross in the waters around the Ingenstrem Rocks (52.64, 174.52) near Shemya Island in the Aleutians.

The pelagic directory and Brian's article are available for download as PDFs from the Winging It archive. The availability of the former will be very useful to birders from other countries that might be planning to visit the ABA area and hoping to book themselves on an offshore trip.

Welcome back 'pelagic issue'!

2008 Western Pacific Odyssey gets off to a great start

2008-04-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

Arguably the hottest ticket in the pelagic birding world is a berth aboard the Spirit of Enderby, operated by Heritage Expeditions (NZ) for its new Western Pacific Odyssey cruise. The month-long voyage begins in Auckland (-36.85°, 174.78°), traversing the Hauraki Gulf (-36.35°, 175.03°) before sailing for Norfolk Island (-29.03°, 167.95°) and New Caledonia (-21.5°, 165.5°). Landfalls are made in the Solomon Islands with a crossing of deep waters in the New Britain Trench. After landing at Truk (7.42°, 151.84°) in the Caroline group, the ship sails north to the Japanese Ogasawara Islands (27.08°, 142.19°) and docks in Yokohama (35.45°, 139.63°). In addition to numerous endemic landbirds, the cruise expects to log an amazing list of tropical Pacific sea birds and cetaceans, with special attention been given to much sought-after species such as Heinroth’s Shearwater, Polynesian Storm-Petrel and newly-rediscovered Beck’s Petrel. This is a MUST for world birders, seabird enthusiasts and travelers of any sort with a passion for remote places of the world.

In a recent posting to Seabird-News, John Brodie-Good relayed a message from leader Chris Collins with highlights of the first few days at sea, including at least 7 New Zealand Storm-Petrel and a fine assortment of pelagic gadfly petrels including Kermadec, Gould’s, White-necked, Black-winged and Grey-faced Petrels. Bristol (UK)-based offshore travel specialist WildWings has a very few places left for the 2009 voyage, some availability for 2010 and are now taking registrations for 2011! With such demand, one wonders how long before the first pelagic ticket scalper appears? Has anyone checked E-bay?

Good news for the Bermuda Petrel (Cahow)

2008-04-05T05:53:00.000-07:00

An important step in the conservation of any endangered species is to expand the breeding range beyond a single site to lessen the impact of infectious disease or natural disaster. Case in point is the Endangered Bermuda Petrel (Pterodroma cahow), which up till now only nested on some small islets in Bermuda's Castle Harbour. These sites are considered suboptimal and at significant risk of flooding or erosion. This worry was brought home by Hurricane Fabian, which washed away large sections of the islets in September 2003. After decades of work by local conservation groups led by Dr. David Wingate (Bermuda’s former Conservation Officer), the habitat on nearby Nonsuch Island (32.3472°, -64.6643°) has been restored to something resembling its original state and more recently, some 81 Bermuda Petrel chicks translocated to the island. Nonsuch lies at the eastern entrance to Castle Harbour and is a protected wildlife sanctuary with restricted access to the public. In March 2008, it was announced by Birdlife International that 3 of these transplants had returned as adults and were observed entering artificial nesting burrows. Current reintroduction work is spearheaded by Jeremy Madeiros (Bermuda’s Department of Conservation Services and head of the Cahow Recovery Program) and Nick Carlile, an Australian scientist from the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation. Carlile and Dr. David Priddel devised the very successful Gould's Petrel (Pterodroma leucoptera) recovery program on Cabbage Tree Island, near Port Stephens, NSW. The total population of Bermuda Petrel is now in excess of 250 individuals. In addition to the ever-present threat of major storms and rising sea levels, invasive mammals such as rats can find their way onto the nesting islets, potentially devastating the breeding population.

Prior to European settlement of this remote archipelago, Bermuda Petrels nested all across Bermuda but were quickly extripated by introduced pigs and other mammals. They were thought to be extinct as early as 1620 until 1951 when 18 nesting pairs were discovered in Castle Harbour. Much remains to be learned about the natural history of these gadfly petrels, for example, very little is known about their feeding grounds. One or two birds are seen annually by pelagic excursions into the Gulf Stream off North Carolina and the presumption is that the majority of Bermuda Petrels disperse north of Bermuda. The use of satellite telemetry or isotope analysis might be one way to shed light on this.