Surveys of the Distribution of Seabirds Found in the Vicinity of Proposed Geothermal Project Subzones in the District of Puna, Hawaii
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center Other Publications in Wildlife Management for August 1994 SURVEYS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF SEABIRDS FOUND IN THE VICINITY OF PROPOSED GEOTHERMAL PROJECT SUBZONES IN THE DISTRICT OF PUNA, HAWAII Michelle Reynolds U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service George Ritchotte U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Anthony Viggiano U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Jill Dwyer U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Bonnie Nielson U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdmother Part of the Environmental Sciences Commons Reynolds, Michelle; Ritchotte, George ; Viggiano, Anthony; Dwyer, Jill; Nielson, Bonnie ; and Jacobi, James D., "SURVEYS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF SEABIRDS FOUND IN THE VICINITY OF PROPOSED GEOTHERMAL PROJECT SUBZONES IN THE DISTRICT OF PUNA, HAWAII" (1994). Other Publications in Wildlife Management. 38. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdmother/38 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Other Publications in Wildlife Management by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Authors Michelle Reynolds, George Ritchotte, Anthony Viggiano, Jill Dwyer, Bonnie Nielson, and James D. Jacobi This article is available at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ icwdmother/38 Centimeter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 mm _t_i_i_i`_i__'_i_l_'_l_'_'_'_l_'_'_'j_'_1,_i_1_.`_i_._1_`,_ 1 2 3 4 5 Inches IIII1",_ oIII1°-_ ,7-,Illll_ I.I _ lill,i 11111,.8 IIII1_IIIIl_Ilili:_ MANUFACTURED TO PlIIIMSTANDARDS ,,_ _ _,_ BY APPLIED IMPI_E, INC. _% _ 4_oh4 e_@e_ ,, ,,,,,,, Pacific Islands Office, Ecological Services SURVEYS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF SEABIRDS FOUND IN THE VICINITY OF PROPOSED GEOTHERMAL PROJECT SUBZONES IN THE DISTRICT OF PICA, I::[AWAI'I Prepared by: Michelle Reynolds, George Ritchotte, Anthony Viggiano J;,UDwyer, Bonnie Nielsen and James D. Jacobi U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Hawai'i Research Station P.O. Box 44 I-Iawai'i National Park, HI 96718 Submitted to: Andrea W. Campbell Project Manager, HGP-EIS U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge P.O. Box 2001 Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-8739 Final Report August 1994 _. t_?jTE R DISTRIBUTION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS UNLIMIT_.I3 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of tables ...................................... iii List of appendices ................................... iii List of figures ..................................... iv Introduction ....................................... 1 Species potentially found within the study area .................. 1 Newell's Shearwater ............................... 1 Hawaiian Dark-rumped petrel .......................... 2 Other seabirds and shorebirds .......................... 3 Objectives ........................................ 4 Materials and Methods ................................ 5 Survey period ................................... 5 Survey techniques ................................. 5 Data collected ................................... 6 Study sites ..................................... 6 Results ......................................... 6 Number of detections ............................... 6 Species detections ................................. 7 Location of detections .............................. 7 Timing of detections ............................... 7 Habitat charz "teristics of survey sites ..................... 8 Discussion ........................................ 8 Detrimental factors affecting Hawaiian seabirds ............... 8 Number of detections ............................... 10 Species detected .................................. 10 Survey areas and location of detections .................... 10 Detectability of seabirds ............................. 11 Possible causes for no fledgling detections or no autumn "fallout" .... 11 Timing of detections ............................... 11 Additional NeweU's nesting habitat in project areas ............. 12 Potential impacts of the proposed geothermal development .......... 12 Management recommendations .................... ....... 14 Literature cited ..................................... 16 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Seabirds, migrant waterbirds, and migrant shorebirds found or potentially found in the geothermal subzones ........ 20 Table 2. Site description, elevation, and summary of results for areas surveyed for seabirds in the Puna district in 1993 . 21 Table 3. Summary of NeweU's shearwater detections in the Puna district in 1993 ........................ 23 Table 4. Seabird survey effort for all surveys conducted for the NeweU's shearwater between July and October 1993 ........... 24 Table 5. Summary of barn owl detections at all Newell's shearwater survey sites ....................... 27 Table 6. NeweU's shearwaters found dead and reported to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1993 ........... 28 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1. Shorebirds and waterbirds detected duJ,,Sngsurveys in the Puna district between October 1993 and February 1994 . 29 Appendix 2. Vegetation associations for all seabird survey sites ....... 30 Appendix 3. Summary of visual and auditory detections of Newell's shearwaters in the Puna district in 1993 ............. 31 DISCLAIMER This report was prepar_.d as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsi- bility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Refer- ence herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recom- mendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Geothermal subzones: proposed project areas .......... 32 Figure 2. Article submitted to the local newspaper ............. 33 Figure 3. Location of seabird survey sites .................. 34 Figure 4. Bright fight sources in the Puna district potentially impacting seabirds ................... 35 Figure 5. I.x_ation of Newell's shearwater detections in Puna, 1993 . 36 Figure 6. Mean monthly detection rates of Newell's shearwater for surveys conducted from July to October 1993 ....... 37 Figure 7. Evening activity pattern of Newell's shearwaters at two colony sites in Puna ............. 38 Figure 8. Morning activity pattern of NeweU's shearwaters at two colony sites in Puna ..................... 39 iv INTRODUCTION In 1993, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) entered into an interagency agreement with the Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct specific biological surveys to identify potential impacts of the proposed geothermal development on the natural resources of the East Rift Zone (Figure 1). This report presents information from published literature information and new field data on seabird populations on the island of Hawai" i. These data axe analyzed with regard to potential impacts of geothermal development on seabird populations in this area. Fifteen species of seabirds, waterbirds, and shorebirds axe documented or suspected of being found using habitats within or immediately adjacent to the three geothermal subzones located in the Puna district on the island of Hawai" i (Table 1). Of these species, tv,,_ axe on the federal Endangered Species List, three axe on the State of Hawai'i Endangered Species List, and all 15 axe protected by the federal Migratory Bird Act. SPECIF_ POTENTIALLY FOUND WITHIN THE STUDY AREA Newell's shearwater or A'o (Puffinus puffinus newelh'): The Newell's shearwater (Newell' s) is a medium sized shearwater 30 to 36 cm long with white underparts and black crown, neck, back, wings and tail. The sharply hooked bill is black but sometimes has a brown tint. The webs of the feet axe pink and the toes axe gray, with well-developed claws (Pratt et al. 1987; USFWS 1983). Taxonomists have debated the classification of the Newell's since its discovery in 1894. The USFW'S considers the Newelrs a subspecies of the Manx sheaxwater (USFWS 1983). The Newell's shearwater was believed to have gone extinct sometime after 1894. However in 1954, a specimen was collected on Oahu (King and Gould 1967) and a breeding colony was found on Kaua'i in 1967 (Sincock and Swedberg 1969). In 1975 the Newell's was listed as threatened (USFWS 1983). As of 1993, fourteen colonies have been discovered on Kaua" i (Ainley and Podolsky 1993), and more axe believed to exist. Remnant populations may still be nesting on the Kohala and Hamakua coasts and in the Puna district on the island of Hawai" i (Banko 1980a; Hall 1978; Kepler et al. 1979). A summary of the Hawai" i Forest Bird Survey (Jacobi 1985) notes that no sheaxwaters were recorded in the Puna district, but they axe known to nest in wet forest habitats, typical of the East Rift Zone with a likely nesting colony in Maka" opuhi Crater. A partly burned carcass and an egg were discovered