Common Seabirds of Atlantic Canada

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Common Seabirds of Atlantic Canada Common Seabirds of Atlantic Canada Shearwaters Great Shearwater Manx Shearwater Sooty Shearwater Cory’s Shearwater White rump patch dark Dark cap Large and cap Dark body stocky No dark prominent head Yellow collar Pale patch bill and dark dark White collar under yellowhead belly wings bill White broad under tail wings Smaller than others Clean white underparts Northern Fulmar Sparrow-sized species that feed by tapping the surface of Storm-Petrels the water with their feet while still airborne Dark prominent eye Wilson’s Storm-Petrel Leach’s Storm-Petrel Notched tail Wing beat shallow and stiff Square tail Large white (feet often rump patch extend beyond) Jaegers and Skuas Adult Jaegers in non-breeding plumage and juveniles are difficult to distinguish from one another Pomarine Jaeger Parasitic Jaeger Long-tailed Jaeger Great Skua Hunchbacked and broad winged Short pointy tail Long slender tail Short bill Long twisted tail White patch Northern Gannet Phalaropes Red-necked Adult Immature Red Phalarope Phalarope Dark markings Bold red underparts under wing Summer Thicker bill White chin Streaked back Thinner bill Pale grey back Winter Photo credits: Bruce Mactavish, John Chardine, Brian Patteson, Sabina Wilhelm, Anna Calvert, Carina Gjerdrum, Dave Fifield, and Ian Jones. Update 2017 Common Seabirds of Atlantic Canada Black wing-tipped Gulls Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Black-legged Kittiwake Adult Adult Has brownish Breeding adult Winter adult head in winter Dark patch Marbled More uniform behind underwing brown than eye coverts immature Great Black- backed Gull Bold Yellow bill black Dark wing tips wing Immature pattern look like they (1st winter) were “dipped Immature in ink” (2nd or 3rd winter) Black bill in 1st winter and black Black bill nd Immature tip in 2 winter for both species (1st winter) White wing-tipped Gulls Glaucous Gull Iceland Gull Ivory Gull Adult Adult Variable wing tip pattern Adult Immature Flatter (sometimes head Dusky face dark tips) Uniformly than Immature white Iceland (2nd winter) Gull Longer & larger bill Immature Dark spots on st than Iceland Gull (1 winter) wing & tail tip Pale with brown wash Black bill in 1st winter and black tip in 2nd winter for both species Alcids - summer Common Murre Thick-billed Murre Razorbill Black Guillemot Atlantic Puffin Dovekie Large, colourful bill Long straight White gape Deep bill White patch Robin- bill line visible in winter sized with and summer short bill Alcids - winter Common Murre Thick-billed Murre Razorbill Black Guillemot Atlantic Puffin Dovekie White patch White behind Mottled black and white Dark face White behind eye extends above eye eye and chin White throat .
Recommended publications
  • Razorbill: Species Information for Marine Special Protection Area Consultations
    Natural England Technical Information Note TIN124 Razorbill: species information for marine Special Protection Area consultations The UK government has committed to identifying a network of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) in the marine environment by 2015. Natural England is responsible for recommending potential SPAs in English waters to Defra for classification. This and other related information notes have been written to provide further information to coastal and marine stakeholders about the bird species we are seeking to protect through Marine SPAs. For more information about the process for establishing marine SPAs see TIN120 Establishing Marine Special Protection Areas. Background The Birds Directive (EC Directive on the conservation of wild birds (79/409/EEC)) requires member states to identify SPAs for: rare or vulnerable bird species (as listed in Annex I of the Directive); and regularly occurring migratory bird species. Razorbills Alca torda are a regularly occurring migratory bird species in Europe. They are 37– 39 cm long with a wingspan of 63-68 cm1. Their typical lifespan is 13 years and the oldest Razorbill by Andy Brown reported individual was over 41 years old2. The majority of UK birds nest in the north and west of Scotland. In England, razorbills breed on Conservation Status coasts and islands in the north and south-west. UK amber-listed bird of conservation concern3. The largest English colony is at Flamborough Distribution and population Head and Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire. Razorbills only breed along North Atlantic coasts, including the UK. Migration/movements Adults and dependent young disperse offshore The Seabird 2000 census lists the UK breeding from colonies in July – August, with adults population at 187,100 individuals, 20% of global becoming flightless during this period due to 4 population with 11,144 individuals breeding in moult.
    [Show full text]
  • Breeding Ecology and Extinction of the Great Auk (Pinguinus Impennis): Anecdotal Evidence and Conjectures
    THE AUK A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY VOL. 101 JANUARY1984 No. 1 BREEDING ECOLOGY AND EXTINCTION OF THE GREAT AUK (PINGUINUS IMPENNIS): ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE AND CONJECTURES SVEN-AXEL BENGTSON Museumof Zoology,University of Lund,Helgonavi•en 3, S-223 62 Lund,Sweden The Garefowl, or Great Auk (Pinguinusimpen- Thus, the sad history of this grand, flightless nis)(Frontispiece), met its final fate in 1844 (or auk has received considerable attention and has shortly thereafter), before anyone versed in often been told. Still, the final episodeof the natural history had endeavoured to study the epilogue deservesto be repeated.Probably al- living bird in the field. In fact, no naturalist ready before the beginning of the 19th centu- ever reported having met with a Great Auk in ry, the GreatAuk wasgone on the westernside its natural environment, although specimens of the Atlantic, and in Europe it was on the were occasionallykept in captivity for short verge of extinction. The last few pairs were periods of time. For instance, the Danish nat- known to breed on some isolated skerries and uralist Ole Worm (Worm 1655) obtained a live rocks off the southwesternpeninsula of Ice- bird from the Faroe Islands and observed it for land. One day between 2 and 5 June 1844, a several months, and Fleming (1824) had the party of Icelanderslanded on Eldey, a stackof opportunity to study a Great Auk that had been volcanic tuff with precipitouscliffs and a flat caught on the island of St. Kilda, Outer Heb- top, now harbouring one of the largestsgan- rides, in 1821. nettles in the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Norway Pout, Sandeel and North Sea Sprat
    FINAL REPORT Initial assessment of the Norway sandeel, pout and North Sea sprat fishery Norges Fiskarlag Report No.: 2017-008, Rev 3 Date: January 2nd 2018 Certificate code: 251453-2017-AQ-NOR-ASI Report type: Final Report DNV GL – Business Assurance Report title: Initial assessment of the Norway sandeel, pout and North Sea sprat fishery DNV GL Business Assurance Customer: Norges Fiskarlag, Pirsenteret, Norway AS 7462 TRONDHEIM Veritasveien 1 Contact person: Tor Bjørklund Larsen 1322 HØVIK, Norway Date of issue: January 2nd 2018 Tel: +47 67 57 99 00 Project No.: PRJC -557210 -2016 -MSC -NOR http://www.dnvgl.com Organisation unit: ZNONO418 Report No.: 2017-008, Rev 3 Certificate No.: 251453-2017-AQ-NOR-ASI Objective: Assessment of the Norway sandeel, pout and North Sea sprat fishery against MSC Fisheries Standards v2.0. Prepared by: Verified by: Lucia Revenga Sigrun Bekkevold Team Leader and P2 Expert Principle Consultant Hans Lassen P1 Expert Geir Hønneland P3 Expert Stefan Midteide Project Manager Copyright © DNV GL 2014. All rights reserved. This publication or parts thereof may not be copied, reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, whether digitally or otherwise without the prior written consent of DNV GL. DNV GL and the Horizon Graphic are trademarks of DNV GL AS. The content of this publication shall be kept confidential by the customer, unless otherwise agreed in writing. Reference to part of this publication which may lead to misinterpretation is prohibited. DNV GL Distribution: ☒ Unrestricted distribution (internal and external) ☐ Unrestricted distribution within DNV GL ☐ Limited distribution within DNV GL after 3 years ☐ No distribution (confidential) ☐ Secret Rev.
    [Show full text]
  • Seabird Recovery on Jersey, Channel Islands
    OPTIONS FOR THE RECOVERY OF NESTING SEABIRDS ON JERSEY, CHANNEL ISLANDS July 2018 KJ Swinnerton1, HG Young2, P Sangan3 1kjswinnerton consulting, 2Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, 3Sangan Island Conservation Ltd. Seabird Recovery on Jersey, Channel Islands CONTENTS Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 3 Background and Context ............................................................................................................................... 4 Seabird Recovery Sites on Jersey .................................................................................................................. 5 Seabird Restoration Options ......................................................................................................................... 5 Invasive species impacts ........................................................................................................................... 6 Habitat improvement at nest sites .......................................................................................................... 13 Artificial nests .......................................................................................................................................... 14 Social attraction ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Chick translocation .................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Atlantic Puffin Tagging Report 2020, Skellig Michael
    Atlantic Puffin tagging report 2020, Skellig Michael Mark Jessopp and Jamie Darby School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences University College Cork Context The Atlantic puffin ( Fratercula arctica ) is a seabird species found on several islands and high cliffs around the coast of Ireland. Puffins are typically monogamous and long-lived, with breeding delayed until 5 or 6 years old. A single egg is laid in early summer, which parents take turns incubating until it hatches, then taking turn provisioning the chick until it fledges in late July/early August. Once the breeding season is over, puffins migrate offshore until the next breeding attempt. Because of their low reproductive output, puffin populations are sensitive to impacts such as severe storms or oil pollution at sea, or invasive predatory species at the colony. In the 2000s, rapid population declines led to the species being classified as Endangered in Europe by the IUCN. Despite the emblematic status of the puffin, our knowledge of their ecology in Ireland is limited, especially concerning their behaviour and distribution at sea. Simplified life cycle of the puffin (credit: Terra Dawson) Skellig Michael supports a population of breeding puffins in addition to populations of Manx shearwaters, European storm petrels, northern fulmars, kittiwakes and common guillemots. Skellig Michael’s sister island, Little Skellig, hosts the largest gannet colony in Ireland with an estimated 35,000 breeding pairs (Newton et al 2015). Skellig Michael can support such numbers of seabirds due to its location on a productive expanse of continental shelf that benefits from shelf-edge upwellings from the nearby Porcupine Basin.
    [Show full text]
  • Puffins in Peril?
    Puffins in peril? “Once widespread creatures such as Puffin, Snowy Owl “What we…need is wide-scale solutions to agricultural and Turtle Dove are plummeting towards oblivion. The intensification and expansion – they are the biggest State of the World’s Birds [Report]…reveals a drivers to extinction of birds. We could easily feed the biodiversity crisis driven by the expansion and world’s population and leave room for birds and other intensification of agriculture. In all 74% of 1409 globally wildlife. There are successful systems that marry threatened birds are affected…primarily by farming, wildlife conservation and productive landscapes for logging, invasive species, and hunting.”1 people.”2 “According to the report at least 40% of “Everything we do in our day-to-day lives can have an bird species worldwide are in impact on nature – from the food we eat to the energy we use – everyone has a role to play in conservation decline…with researchers blaming human and it’s more important than ever that everyone does activity.”1 their bit!”3 “Overfishing and climate change are affecting seabird “We all need to get involved…to make a species, particularly, the Atlantic Puffin and the Black real difference.”3 Legged Kittihawk. The European Turtle Dove’s rapid disappearance is caused by both hunting and habitat loss through modern farming.”1 1 Barkham. P (2018) “But there are conservation success stories - according One in eight bird species threatened with extinction to Birdlife 25 bird species would have gone extinct this The Guardian (23/04/2018) century without targeted conservation work.”1 2 Allinson.T - Bird Life International (2018) Quoted: One in eight bird species threatened with extinction The Guardian (23/04/2018) “Everything is reversible…because 3 Act for Wildlife (2016) everything is unfortunately of humankinds Together we can save UK wildlife https://www.actforwildlife.org.uk/conservation-news/together- making”2 can-save-uk-wildlife/ .
    [Show full text]
  • Razorbill Alca Torda in North Norway
    THE EFFECT OF PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS ON THE BREEDING SUCCESS OF RAZORBILLS (ALCA TORDA L. 1758) ON MACHIAS SEAL ISLAND, NB IN 2000 AND 2001 by Virgil D. Grecian Bachelor of Science (Hon), Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1996 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in the Graduate Academic Unit of Biology Supervisors: A.W. Diamond, Ph.D., Biology and Forestry & Environmental Management, J.W. Chardine, Ph.D., Canadian Wildlife Service Supervisory Committee: D.J. Hamilton, Ph.D., Mt Allison University Examining Board: This thesis is accepted. ………………………………………… Dean of Graduate Studies THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada December, 2004 ABSTRACT The influence of various physical and biological parameters on the breeding biology of Razorbills (Alca torda) on Machias Seal Island (MSI) was studied in 2000 and 2001. The major predators (gulls) on seabird eggs and chicks on MSI are controlled, providing an unusual opportunity to study breeding biology in the virtual absence of predation. The timing of egg-laying was right skewed in both years. A complete survey 10-14 June 2000 of all Razorbill breeding habitat on MSI was combined with radio telemetry to estimate the total number of inaccessible breeding sites that may not have been counted. A corrected breeding pair estimate for MSI is 592 ± 17 pairs. Overall breeding success was 55% in 2000 and 59% in 2001. Most chicks that hatched also departed the island, so differences in breeding success were due chiefly to differences in hatching success. Adults breeding in burrows were more successful than adults in crevice and open nest sites.
    [Show full text]
  • Comparative Breeding Biology of Guillemots Uria Spp. and Razorbills Alca Torda at a Colony in the Northwest Atlantic
    Breeding biology ofGuillemots and Razorbills 121 121 Comparative breeding biology of Guillemots Uria spp. and Razorbills Alca torda at a colony in the Northwest Atlantic Vergelijkende broedbiologie van Zeekoeten en Alken op een kolonie in het Noorwestelijke Atlantische gebied J. Mark+Hipfner&Rachel Bryant Biopsychology Programme. Memorial University ofNewfoundland St. John's. NF. Canada AIB 3X9e-mail:[email protected] the Common Guillemots, We compared various aspectsof breedingbiology ofRazorbills, ” and Brünnich’s Guillemots (the “intermediate auks) at the Gannet Islands, Labrador. Canada, in 1997. In all three species, layingfollowed a strongly right-skewedpattern, In with median laying dates falling within a narrow window between 27-29 June. and comparison topreviousyears, laying was late, relatively synchronous among species. 2 in Razorbills 35 than in either Incubation periods were days longer (median days) guillemot species (33 days), whereas Common Guillemots had longer nestling periods (mean 24 days) than Razorbills (19 days) or Brünnich’s Guillemots (20 days). In all species, there was a tendency for late-laying pairs to contract their breeding periods, in mainly by reducing the duration of the nestling period. Breeding success was high Razorbills (73%) and Common Guillemots (85%), but low in Brünnich’s Guillemots Brünnich Guillemots (51%), largely due to low hatching success. Late-breeding ’s were little this in the other more likely tofail than were earlypairs, but there was indication of two species. Seasonal patterns of colony attendance suggested that there were many young, pre-breeding Brünnich’s Guillemots and Razorbills present; populations of these in since species appear to be faring well at this colony.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring Atlantic Puffin
    Ecological segregation between two closely related species: exploring Atlantic puffin and razorbill foraging hotspots. by Stephanie C. Symons B.Sc. Zoology, University of Guelph, 2014 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in the Graduate Academic Unit of Biology Supervisors: Antony Diamond, Ph.D., Biology Department and Forestry and Environmental Management Graham Forbes, Ph.D., Biology Department and Forestry and Environmental Management Examining Board: Les Cwynar, Ph.D., Biology Department, Chair Joseph Nocera, Ph.D., Forestry and Environment Management Heather Major, Ph.D., Biology Department at UNBSJ This thesis is accepted by the Dean of Graduate Studies THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK January, 2018 ©Stephanie C. Symons, 2018 ABSTRACT Threats to the marine environment are on the rise in the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine. Significant changes in marine food webs are already affecting the most important seabird breeding site in New Brunswick, Machias Seal Island. During the breeding season, this island is home to several seabird species, including regionally important colonies of Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica) and Razorbills (Alca torda). These two auks coexist sympatrically during the breeding season, occupying similar dietary niches. Additionally, these birds are central place foragers, restricting their foraging ranges by the need to make several return trips (~10 per day) to feed their young or relieve their mate. In recent years, their food supply has deteriorated and there is concern for the future of auks in this region. Current knowledge of their at-sea distribution in the Bay of Fundy is especially fragmented, depending mainly on casual observations by passersby or the occasional survey.
    [Show full text]
  • Alcid Identification in Massachusetts
    ALCID IDENTIFICATION IN MASSACHUSETTS by Richard R. Veit, Tuckernuck The alcldae, a northern circvimpolar family of sesbirds, are memhers of the order Charadrilformes and thus most closely related to the gulls, skuas, and shorehirds. All alcids have approximately elliptical bodies and much reduced appendages, adaptations for insulation as well as a streamlined trajectory under water. Their narrow flipperlike wings are modified to reduce drag durlng underwater propulsión, and are, therefore, comparatively inefficient for flight. Razorbills, murres, and puffins feed predominately on fish, such as the sand launce, capelin, Arctic cod, herring, and mackerel. The Dovekie, by far the smallest Atlantic alcid, eats zooplankton exclusively, such as the superabundant "krill." The Black Guillemot, unique.in its con- finement to the shallow littoral zone, feeds largely on rock eels or gunnel. As with many pelagic birds, the alcids' dependence on abundant marine food restricts them to the productive vaters of the high latitudes. Bio- logical productivity of the oceans increases markedly towards the poles, largely because the low surface temperaturas there maintain convection currents which serve to raise large quantities of dissolved mineral nu­ triente to the siirface. The resultant high concentration of nutriente near the surface of polar seas supports enormous populations of plankton and, ultimately, the fish upon which the largar alcids feed. Alcids are comparatively weak flyers and are not regularly migratory, but rather disperse from their breeding ranga only when forced to do so by freezing waters or food scarcity. Massachusetts lies at the periphery of the ranges of these birds, with the exception of the Razorbill. It i& only under exceptional circumstances, such as southward irruptions coupled with strong northeasterly storms that substantial numbers of alcids are observad along the Massachusetts coastline.
    [Show full text]
  • Skomer Island Puffin Factsheet
    Skomer Island Puffin Factsheet The Atlantic Puffin is the best-known of the British auks – its colourful and slightly clown-like appear- ance makes it immediately recognisable. The Puffin’s short wings are used for ‘flying’ under- water in search of fish; large wings would be a dis- advantage but small wings make flying in the air rather more difficult and the birds must beat their wings rapidly to stay aloft. The Puffin’s beak is only distinctively-coloured in summer; the large red and grey scutes or horny plates together with the fleshy yellow rosette in the corner of the mouth are grown late winter for use in display. After the breeding season they are moulted. The winter bill is relative- ly small and constricted at the base, and blackish in colour as is the face. Populations Formerly much more common in southern Brit- ain, there are now few Puffin colonies south of the Scottish border. Unfortunately, their numbers across the UK and Europe have plummeted leading to the species declared vulnerable to global extinction, with further declines of be- tween 50-79% estimated by 2065. Warming seas, caused by climate change and overfishing, affecting Puffins’ food sources are thought to be one of the main threats to this bird species. The Wildlife Trust’s Skokholm and Skomer Islands play a vital part to the Puffin population and although the species is declining in other parts of the world, incredibly 2017’s Puffin count on Skomer came up as the highest since modern records began with a whopping 25,227 individuals.
    [Show full text]
  • A Census of the Atlantic Puffins Fratercula Arctica Breeding on Orkney in 2016
    A census of Atlantic Puffins on Orkney A Census of the Atlantic Puffins Fratercula arctica breeding on Orkney in 2016 Robert D. Hughes1*, Fabrice Le Bouard1, Gareth Bradbury2 and Ellie Owen1 * Correspondence author. Email: [email protected] 1 The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, North Scotland Regional Office, Etive House, Beechwood Park, Inverness, IV2 3BW, UK; 2 The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge, GL2 7BT, UK. Abstract Atlantic Puffins Fratercula arctica were counted at all known colonies in Orkney (excluding Sule Skerry) during the 2016 breeding season. Counts of individuals (IND) were made during pre-laying and incubation at all 20 sites and at six sites where burrows where physically accessible. In 2016 the Atlantic Puffin population of Orkney was estimated to be 6,675 breeding pairs (based on the counts of apparently occupied burrows [AOB] where available, and assuming that one individual represented one breeding pair for the other sites). AOB counts were higher than the IND counts at all six colonies where both methods were used. Previous Orkney Atlantic Puffin population estimates of breeding pairs were mostly based on counts of individuals on land (INDL) made during late incubation and chick rearing. While caution must be used when comparing INDL counts between years the results suggest a decline in line with studies of other Northern Isles colonies. Introduction The Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica (hereafter ‘Puffin’) is a rocky crevice and burrow nesting seabird, whose range is restricted to the cold waters of the North Atlantic (Harris & Wanless 2011). Due to the Puffins’ nesting habits, often in remote or inaccessible locations, accurately determining their population size is difficult.
    [Show full text]