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Breeding Colonies Distribution for Fulmar Prion Lineage.Docx To view this as a map and many more go to: www.nabis.govt.nz web mapping tool Type the map name into: Search for a map layer or place Lineage – Scientific methodology Breeding distribution of Fulmar prion 1. A “breeding colony” for New Zealand seabirds is defined as “any location where breeding has been reported and is considered by the expert compiling the species account to have occurred at that location at least until 1998”. 2. An “occasional breeding colony” for New Zealand seabirds is defined as “any location where breeding has been reported, but not necessarily continuously nor during consecutive breeding seasons, and is considered by the expert compiling the species account to have occurred at that location during the last 30 years”. 3. Literature sources were searched for breeding distribution information. a. Scientific papers, published texts, unpublished reports and university theses available to the expert who prepared the distributional layers. b. Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts 1960-2010. c. OSNZ News and Southern Bird for 1977–2010. 4. Other sources. a. Nil. 5. All breeding colonies of fulmar prions are mapped according to written descriptions of their locations. The locations of the Chatham and Auckland Islands colonies are taken from the descriptions in Taylor (2000), those of the Bounty Islands from Robertson & van Tets (1982), and those of the Snares Western Chain colonies from Miskelly (1984). The colonies have not been surveyed for mapping purposes, and the mapping presented is based on the written descriptions of their locations. 6. Summary a. An expert scientist integrated information from the literature and expert opinion, and produced hand-drawn distributional zones on a template map. These maps were then digitised and imported into a GIS software package as layers. The areas of the zones were calculated, and the layers were linked to attribute and metadata files. b. The primary sources of breeding distribution data for fulmar prion were papers published in refereed journals. c. Three subspecies of fulmar prion are currently recognized as breeding in New Zealand (Tennyson & Bartle 2005). P.c. crassirostris, endemic to New Zealand, breeds on the Bounty Is (entire group), and Snares Western Chain (Toru and Rima Islets) (Taylor 2000). P.c. pyramidalis breeds on The Pyramid and The Forty-Fours, Chatham Islands (Taylor 2000). P.c. flemingi breeds at the Auckland Islands (Rose, Ocean and Ewing Islands; Taylor 2000; Tennyson & Bartle 2005). d. The Chatham Islands population of P. c. pyramidalis has not been systematically surveyed, but Robertson & Bell (1984) estimated there to be 1000-5000 pairs. Likewise, there has been no systematic survey of the numbers of fulmar prions at the Snares Western Chain, but following visits to Tahi, Rua, Toru and Rima Islets during February 1984 Miskelly (1984) estimated a breeding population of 400-600 pairs. The largest population breeds at the Bounty Islands where, “although the prions were impossible to census”, an estimated 76,000 pairs were present in November 1978 (Robertson & van Tets 1982). Based on an area of suitable habitat of 13,9780m2 and a nest density of 0.21 breeding pairs/m2, the total breeding population on the Bounty Islands in November 1997 was estimated as 29,354 pairs (A. Booth, in Taylor 2000). A systematic survey of Proclamation Island (Bounty Islands) during November 1997 estimated 1235 pairs nesting (Clark et al. 1998). e. The Auckland Is population of was originally named P .c. eatoni, but was recently described and named a new subspecies P.c. flemingi by Tennyson & Bartle (2005). An estimated population of 1000-5000 breeding pairs on Rose, Ocean and Ewing Islands (Robertson & Bell 1984), is probably an overestimate (Tennyson & Bartle 2005). A nocturnal survey on 23-24 June 1998 found 100-400 pairs on Ewing Island and less than 100 pairs on Ocean Island. A few hundred pairs would breed on Rose Island, assuming a similar density of breeding pairs (which was not surveyed), Consequently, Tennyson & Bartle (2005) estimated the population at the Auckland Islands as less than a 1000 pairs. f. The taxonomy of fulmar prions needs revision, as there is confusion over separation of subspecies in this group (Taylor 2000). In particular, the status of the subspecies pyramidalis needs investigating. This subspecies is used in the New Zealand checklist (Turbott 1990) for fulmar prions at the Chatham Islands, but is not recognised by Marchant & Higgins (1990). 7. References The following sources provided useful information on the breeding distribution and population size of this species. This is not an exhaustive list of all references to the species. Clark, G.; Booth, A.; Aimey, J. 1998. The “Totorore” expedition to the Bounty Islands, New Zealand, October 1997 to January 1998. Unpublished report, Department of Conservation, Invercargill. 64p. Heather, B.; Robertson, H. (1996). The field guide to the birds of New Zealand. Viking, Auckland. 432p. Imber, M.J. (1994). Seabirds recorded at the Chatham Islands, 1960 to May 1993. Notornis 41 (Supplement): 97-108. Marchant, S.; Higgins, P.J. (1990). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds. Volume 1, Part A. Oxford University Press, Melbourne. 735p. Miskelly, C.M. (1984). Birds of the Western Chain, Snares Islands. Notornis 31: 209-233. Robertson, C.J.R.; Bell, B.D. (1984). Seabird status and conservation in the New Zealand region. In: Status and conservation of the world’s seabirds. In: Croxall, J.P.; Evans, P.G.H.; Schreiber, R.W. (eds). ICBP Technical Publication No. 2: pp. 573-586. Robertson, C.J.R.; van Tets, G.F. (1982). The staus of birds at the Bounty Islands. Notornis 29: 311-336. Sagar, P.M. (1977). Birds of the Western Chain, Snares Island, New Zealand. Notornis 24: 178-183. Taylor, G.A. (2000). Action plan for seabird conservation in New Zealand. Part A: threatened seabirds. Threatened species occasional publication No. 16, Department of Conservation, Wellington. 233p. Tennyson, A.J.D.; Bartle, J.A. (2005). A scientific name for fulmar prions nesting at Auckland and Heard Islands. Notornis 52: 47-55. Tennyson, A.J.D.; Mayhill, R.C.; Clark, G.S. (1993). A visit to The Pyramid and the Murumurus, Chatham Islands. Tane 34: 171-179. Turbott, E.G. (1990). Checklist of the birds of New Zealand and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica. 3rd edition, Random Century, Auckland. 247p. .
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