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Seabird Ecology: Raising Their Young

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Seabird Ecology: Raising Their Young Southern Seabird 7 Solutions Fact Sheet Southern Seabird Solutions Seabird ecology Raising their young Of the world’s 359 manu moana/seabird species nearly one-quarter (85 species) breed in New Zealand. Of these 85 species 35 breed Key words nowhere else in the world. displays, regurgitation, Each seabird species courts, mates and raises their young in slightly incubate, foraging different ways. Some seabirds build their nests on cliffs and others hua manu – egg build theirs at beaches just above the high-tide line. Most seabird kĿhanga – nest species breed every year, but some large species only breed every pĦpĦ – chick other year. Most seabirds mate with the same partner breeding season after breeding season. Manu moana – Seabird It takes two Buller·s albatross Seabird parents share the responsibility of raising their young. They Chatham tăiko take turns foraging at sea and staying at the nest to incubate ngă hua păngurunguru – northern giant manu/eggs and guard the young chicks. petrel toroa-whakaingo – northern Shag, gull and tern parents take short trips in search of food and royal albatross relieve each other of nest duty on at least a daily basis. Other seabirds may go out to sea in search of food for up to two weeks Displays of affection before they return to take over guarding the nest. Toroa-whakaingo/northern s i royal albatross usually only r r o Albatrosses, shearwaters and breed every other year. Even M d petrels all belong to the Order though most albatross mate o R Procellariiformes. The long- , with the same partner for life C O lived seabirds in this group are they still have courting rituals. D y slow breeders. Most species do s e t Courtship displays include bill r not breed until they are at least u o clappering, preening each c four years old and some like the to o other, opening their wings h giant petrel and several albatrosses p y, and sky calling. To sky call la don·t breed until they are about 10 sp the albatross calls out while di ip years old. That isn·t old for humans, tsh pointing its beak toward the our but compared to other birds that·s Au ets c sky. stralasian gann ancient! Procellariiformes usually lay only one egg. The parents take turns incubating the egg. When the egg hatches the parents continue taking turns guarding the chick until it·s old enough to be left alone. As the pĦpĦ/ chick gets older it needs more and more food so both parents need to leave the nest for long periods of time to search for enough food to feed themselves and their growing chick. F a i r y p If something happens to one of the parents during the r io breeding season it can mean that the chick and even the n p a ir other parent could die. It takes so much energy to raise a a t n chick that both parents need to be involved the whole time. es t, ph oto co n u o rt s e t sy r DO is e C, Rod Morr b o R R Seafood smoothies J C , C Parents feed their chicks by regurgitating food that they ve eaten O · D y while foraging at sea. The refl ex for the parents is a lot like s e t r vomiting. Although it doesn t sound appetising to us, what u · o c comes out of the parent·s mouth is energy-rich food that o t o helps their young survive. h p , y a l p s i d p i Time to fl y h s t r The length of time seabirds spend at their breeding colonies u o c s ranges from several weeks to nearly a year. Parents may stop s o tr feeding their young and quit returning to the breeding colony a lb a several weeks before their fl edglings are able to take off on d pe their own. ap -c ite Wh It·s hard to believe, but by the time the adults leave the colony most fl edglings are able to defend themselves against their natural predators. But introduced predators (e.g. rats, stoats, e s ferrets, dogs and cats) pose a e e R threat to the young birds. r e t e P People in New Zealand are , C O working to remove introduced D y s predators from many of our e rt u offshore islands. In places where co to all introduced pests and predators ho , p uin can·t be removed traps and fences are W peng hite-flippered placed around nesting areas. Buller’s albatross, photo courtesy Southern Seabird Solutions.
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