Population Estimates and Temporal Trends of Pribilof Island Seabirds
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Breeding Status and Population Trends of Seabirds in Alaska, 2014
BREEDING STATUS AND POPULATION TRENDS OF SEABIRDS IN ALASKA, 2014 U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE AMNWR 2015/03 BREEDING STATUS AND POPULATION TRENDS OF SEABIRDS IN ALASKA, 2014 Compiled By: Donald E. Dragoo, Heather M. Renner and David B. Ironsa Key words: Aethia, Alaska, Aleutian Islands, ancient murrelet, Bering Sea, black-legged kittiwake, Cepphus, Cerorhinca, Chukchi Sea, common murre, crested auklet, fork-tailed storm-petrel, Fratercula, Fulmarus, glaucous-winged gull, Gulf of Alaska, hatching chronology, horned puffin, Larus, Leach’s storm-petrel, least auklet, long-term monitoring, northern fulmar, Oceanodroma, parakeet auklet, pelagic cormorant, Phalacrocorax, pigeon guillemot, Prince William Sound, productivity, red-faced cormorant, red-legged kittiwake, rhinoceros auklet, Rissa, seabirds, Synthliboramphus, thick-billed murre, tufted puffin, Uria, whiskered auklet. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge 95 Sterling Highway, Suite 1 Homer, Alaska, USA 99603 February 2015 Cite as: Dragoo, D. E., H. M. Renner, and D. B. Irons. 2015. Breeding status and population trends of seabirds in Alaska, 2014. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Report AMNWR 2015/03. Homer, Alaska. aDragoo ([email protected]) and Renner ([email protected]), Alaska Maritime NWR, Homer; Irons ([email protected]), U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Migratory Bird Management, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, Alaska USA 99503 When using information from this report, data, results, or conclusions specific to a location(s) should not be used in other publications without first obtaining permission from the original contributor(s). Results and conclusions general to large geographic areas may be cited without permission. This report updates previous reports. -
Population Status, Reproductive Ecology, and Trophic Relationships of Seabirds in Northwestern Alaska
POPULATION STATUS, REPRODUCTIVE ECOLOGY, AND TROPHIC RELATIONSHIPS OF SEABIRDS IN NORTHWESTERN ALASKA by Alan M. Springer, Edward C. Murphy, David G. Roseneau, and Martha 1. Springer LGL Alaska Research Associates, Inc. P. O. BOX 80607 Fairbanks, Alaska 99708 Final Report Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program Research Unit 460 April 1982 127 TABLE OF CONTENTS ~ I. SUMMARY OF OBJECTIVES, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS WITH RESPECT TO OCS OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT. 131 II. INTRODUCTION. 131 III. CURRENT STATEOFKNOWLEDGE . 133 IV. STUDY AREAS. 133 Va. MURRE NUMBERS - METHODS. 135 VIa. MURRE NUMBERS-RESULTS.. 140 VIIa. MURRE NUMBERS-DISCUSSION . 145 VIIb. FOOD HABITS-METHODS. 162 VIIb . FOOD HABITS-RESULTS. 163 VIIb . FOOD HABITS -DISCUSSION. , . 168 VIIc . KITTIWAKES -METHODS. 203 VIIc . KITTIWAKES -RESULTS. 204 VIIC . KITTIWAKES -DISCUSSION. 206 VIId . OTHER SPECIES-METHODS.. 209 VId & VIId. OTHER SPECIES - RESULTS AND DISCUSSION . 209 VIII. CONCLUSIONS. 231 IX. NEEDS FORFUTURESTUDY . 232 x. LITEMITURECITED. 233 129 I. SUMMARY OF OBJECTIVES, CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS WITH REGARD TO OCS OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT A. Objectives The objective of RU 460 is to describe important components of the biology of seabirds in northern Alaska, including relationships among seabirds, their supporting food webs and the physical environment. To accomplish this objective we have concentrated on studies of thick-billed murres (Uris lomvia), common murres (U. aazge) and black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyZa), the most wide-spread, and among the most numerous, of all seabird species in the region. Moreover, murres and kittiwakes are easily studied compared to other species, and are sensitive indicators of environmental change. B: Conclusions Our principal conclusions are that numbers of murres at two major breeding colonies in northern Alaska are declining and that annual vari- ability is high in a variety of elements of murre and kittiwake breeding biology. -
Sea of Okhotsk: Seals, Seabirds and a Legacy of Sorrow
SEA OF OKHOTSK: SEALS, SEABIRDS AND A LEGACY OF SORROW Little known outside of Russia and seldom visited by westerners, Russia's Sea of Okhotsk dominates the Northwest Pacific. Bounded to the north and west by the Russian continent and the Kamchatka Peninsula to the east, with the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island guarding the southern border, it is almost landlocked. Its coasts were once home to a number of groups of indigenous people: the Nivkhi, Oroki, Even and Itelmen. Their name for this sea simply translates as something like the ‘Sea of Hunters' or ‘Hunters Sea', perhaps a clue to the abundance of wildlife found here. In 1725, and again in 1733, the Russian explorer Vitus Bering launched two expeditions from the town of Okhotsk on the western shores of this sea in order to explore the eastern coasts of the Russian Empire. For a long time this town was the gateway to Kamchatka and beyond. The modern make it an inhospitable place. However the lure of a rich fishery town of Okhotsk is built near the site of the old town, and little and, more recently, oil and gas discoveries means this sea is has changed over the centuries. Inhabitants now have an air still being exploited, so nothing has changed. In 1854, no fewer service, but their lives are still dominated by the sea. Perhaps than 160 American and British whaling ships were there hunting no other sea in the world has witnessed as much human whales. Despite this seemingly relentless exploitation the suffering and misery as the Sea of Okhotsk. -
Status and Occurrence of Parakeet Auklet (Aethia Psittacula) in British Columbia
Status and Occurrence of Parakeet Auklet (Aethia psittacula) in British Columbia. By Rick Toochin and Louis Haviland. Introduction and Distribution The Parakeet Auklet (Aethia psittacula) is a small species of auklet found breeding in the Beringia region of Alaska and Russia (Gaston and Jones 1998). This species has an Alaskan population estimated at 1 million birds (Gaston and Jones 1998). There is also a Russian population, but the exact population total is not known, due to a lack of population inventory work, but it is estimated to number about 400,000 birds with the vast majority, about 300,000 birds, found in the Sea of Okhotsk (Gaston and Jones 1998). The Parakeet Auklet has breeding colonies that are found on rocky mainland points and islands in the Gulf of Alaska (Jones et al. 2001). These sites include: Shumagin Island, Semidi Isand, Chirikof Island near Kodiak, locally in Kenai Peninsula and southeastern Alaska with small numbers south to St. Lazaria, Hazy and Forrester Island; and in the Aleutian Islands west to Buldir and Agattu Island; and in the Bering Sea at Little Diomede, St. Lawrence Island, King Island, St. Matthew Island, Pribilof Island and Nunivak Island (Sowls et al. 1978). The Parakeet Auklet also breeds in Russia in the Kurile Island chain with colonies on Chirinkontan, Lovushki, Raikoke, Matua, Yankicha, Simushir, Brat Chirpoev, Urup, and Iturup Island (Jones et al. 2001, Brazil 2009). They are also breeding on islands in the Sea of Okhotsk with colonies on Sakhalin, Tyuleniy, Iona, Talan, and Yamskyie Island (Jones et al. 2001, Brazil 2009). The Parakeet Auklet is also found breeding on Commander Island, and northwards locally along coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, on Karaginski Island, Cape Navarin, and on Chukotka Peninsula (Konyukhov 1989, Kondratyev et al. -
Breeding Biology of the Horned Puffin on St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea, with Zoogeographical Notes on the North Pacific Puffins I
Pacific Science (1973), Vol. 27, No.2, p. 99-119 Printed in Great Britain Breeding Biology of the Horned Puffin on St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea, with Zoogeographical Notes on the North Pacific Puffins I SPENCER G. SEALY' THE HORNED PUFFIN (Fratercula corniculata) is one of six species ofalcids which regularly nest on Sevuokuk Mountain, 3 km east of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska (Fig. 1). During the summers of 1966 and 1967, I conducted on this island a study of the breeding ecology of three of these species, the Parakeet Auklet (Cyc/orrf?ynchuspsittacula), Crested Auklet (Aethia cristatella), and Least Auklet (A. pusilla) (see Sealy, 1968). During these summers some ob servations on the breeding biology of the Horn ed Puffin were obtained and are reported here. The only life history study ofthis species which spans the entire breeding season is that of Swartz (1966) in the Cape Thompson region, Alaska, some 560 km north of St. Lawrence Island (Fig. 2). Numerous studies of the biology of the con generic Common Puffin (Fratercula arctica) of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans are available (e.g., Lockley, 1953; Be1opol'skii, 1957; Uspen ski, 1958; Myrberget, 1959, 1961, 1962; Kartas chew, 1960; Nettleship, 1972; and others) and some of these will be utilized here for compara tive purposes. When available, comparative ob servations on the breeding biology of the other Pacific puffins, the Rhinoceros Auklet (Ceror hinca monocerata), which is actually a puffin (Storer, 1945), and the Tufted Puffin (Lunda cirrhata) will also be included. DISTRIBUTION The breeding distribution of the Horned Puffin has been mapped recently by Udvardy (1963: 105). -
A Mass Post-Breeding Movement of Crested Auklets Aethia Cristatella in the Chukchi Sea
Maftei & Russ et al.: Crested Auklets in the Chukchi Sea 31 A MASS POST-BREEDING MOVEMENT OF CRESTED AUKLETS AETHIA CRISTATELLA IN THE CHUKCHI SEA MARK MAFTEI1 & RODNEY RUSS2 1High Arctic Gull Research Group, Bamfield, BC V0R 1B0, Canada ([email protected]) 2Heritage Expeditions, Christchurch 8023, NZ Submitted 23 November 2013; accepted 16 January 2014 SUMMARY MAFTEI, M. & RUSS, R. 2014. A mass post-breeding movement of Crested Auklets Aethia cristatella in the Chukchi Sea. Marine Ornithology 42: 31–34. The Crested Auklet Aethia cristatella is a highly pelagic alcid for which non-breeding movements and distribution remain poorly understood. On 18 August 2013, in the vicinity of Cape Kekurnyi at the eastern end of the Chukotski Peninsula (66°9.2′N, 169°43.6′W), we observed an uninterrupted passage of an estimated 10 560 000 Crested Auklets over a period of four hours. At the peak of the movement, birds were passing at a rate exceeding 1 000 individuals per second. While the northward movement of Crested Auklets into the Chukchi Sea is well known, our observations indicate that birds from multiple breeding colonies congregate during the post-breeding season and travel in huge numbers to locally productive foraging areas. It also seems likely either that the global population of Crested Auklets has been previously underestimated, or that recent population increases have gone undetected. Key words: Chukchi Sea, Chukotski Peninsula, Crested Auklet, post-breeding movement, world population INTRODUCTION from the bridge and main deck of the ship. From our position at anchor approximately 1.5 km offshore of Uelen, virtually all of the In August and September of 2013, the ship Professor Khromov was migrating auklets were visible in one vertical field of view. -
Foraging Radii and Energetics of Least Auklets (Aethia Pusilla) Breeding on Three Bering Sea Islands
647 Foraging Radii and Energetics of Least Auklets (Aethia pusilla) Breeding on Three Bering Sea Islands Bryan S. Obst1·* Robert W. Russell2·t 2 George L. Hunt, Jr. ·; Zoe A. Eppler·§ Nancy M. Harrison2·ll 1Departmem of Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024; 2Depanment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, California 92717 Accepted 11/18/94 Abstract We studied the relationship between the foraging radius and energy economy of least auklets (Aethia pusilla) breeding in colonies on three islands in the Bering Sea (St. Lawrence, St. Matthew, and St. George Islands). The distan:ce to which auklets commuted on foraging trips varied by more than an order of magnitude (5-56 km), but mean field metabolic rate (FMR) did not vary significantly among birds from the three islands. These observations indicate that allocation to various compartments of time and energy budgets is flexible and suggest that least auklets may have a preferred level ofdaily energy expenditure that is simi lar across colonies. We modeled the partitioning of energy to various activities and hypothesize that the added cost of commuting incurred by auktets from St. Lawrence Island (foraging radius, 56 km) was offiet by reduced energy costs while foraging at sea. Data on bird diets and prey abundances indicated that aukletsfrom St. Lawrence Island fed on larger, more energy-rich copepods than did aukletsfrom St. Matthew island (foraging radius, 5 km) but that depth-aver aged prey density did not differ significantly between the birds' principal forag ing areas. However, previous studies have indicated that zooplankton abun dance is vertically compressed into near-surface layers in stratified waters off St. -
Volume 40, Number 2 Fall 2013
PACIFIC SEABIRDS A Publication of the Pacific Seabird Group Volume 40, Number 2 Fall 2013 PACIFIC SEABIRD GROUP Dedicated to the Study and Conservation of Pacific Seabirds and Their Environment The Pacific Seabird Group (PSG) was formed in 1972 due to the need for better communication among Pacific seabird researchers. PSG provides a forum for the research activities of its members, promotes the conservation of seabirds, and informs members and the public of issues relating to Pacific Ocean seabirds and their environment. PSG members include research scientists, conservation professionals, and members of the public from all parts of the Pacific Ocean. The group also welcomes seabird professionals and enthusiasts in other parts of the world. PSG holds annual meetings at which scientific papers and symposia are presented; abstracts for meetings are published on our web site. The group is active in promoting conservation of seabirds, including seabird/fisheries interactions, monitoring of seabird populations, seabird restoration following oil spills, establishment of seabird sanctuaries, and endangered species. Policy statements are issued on conservation issues of critical importance. PSG’s journals are Pacific Seabirds (formerly the PSG Bulletin) and Marine Ornithology. Other publications include symposium volumes and technical reports; these are listed near the back of this issue. PSG is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Ornithological Council, and the American Bird Conservancy. Annual dues for membership are $30 (individual and family); $24 (student, undergraduate and graduate); and $900 (Life Membership, payable in five $180 installments). Dues are payable to the Treasurer; see the PSG web site, or the Membership Order Form next to inside back cover. -
Common Murre •.• Thick-Billed Murre
j. Field Ornithol., 54(3):266-274 THE FLEDGING OF COMMON AND THICK-BILLED MURRES ON MIDDLETON ISLAND, ALASKA BY SCOTT A. HATCH Three speciesof alcids,Common and Thick-billed murres (Uria aalge and U. lornvia)and the Razorbill (Alca torda),have post-hatchingdevel- opmental patterns intermediate to precocialand semi-precocialmodes (Sealy1973). The youngleave their cliff nestsites at aboutone quarter of adult weight and completetheir growth at sea.At departure, an event here looselyreferred to as "fledging," neither primary nor secondary flight feathersare grown, but well-developedwing covertsenable lim- ited, descendingflight. The adaptivesignificance of thispattern maybe that leadingthe young to distantfeeding areasis more efficientthan lengthy foraging flights by adultsonce the chicks'energetic requirements exceed some critical level (Sealy 1973, Birkhead 1977). The risk to predation is probably greater in exposednest sitesthan at sea, contributing further to the selectiveadvantage of earlyfledging (Cody 1971, Birkhead1977). Given these constraints,however, larger chickswould be expected to better survivethe rigorsof fledging,increased activity at sea,and the vagaries of weather. Hedgren (1981) analyzed278 recoveriesof CommonMurres banded as fledglingsand found no significantrelationship between fledging weight and subsequentsurvival. This result is paradoxicalin view of a strong expectationto the contrary and evidencethat such an effect occursin other speciesof birds (Perrins 1965, Perrinset al. 1973, O'Con- ner 1976). Hedgren suggestedthe nestlingperiod of murres,averaging about3 weeks,is determinednot by a thresholdin bodysize, but by the relativelyconstant time requiredto completefeather growth.Birkhead (1977) alsoemphasized the need for chicksto attain a critical weight: wing-arearatio prior to fledging. Clearly, however,body weight and feather developmentare not mutuallyexclusive factors affecting fledg- ling survival. -
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. -
Wings Over Alaska Checklist
Blue-winged Teal GREBES a Chinese Pond-Heron Semipalmated Plover c Temminck's Stint c Western Gull c Cinnamon Teal r Pied-billed Grebe c Cattle Egret c Little Ringed Plover r Long-toed Stint Glacuous-winged Gull Northern Shoveler Horned Grebe a Green Heron Killdeer Least Sandpiper Glaucous Gull Northern Pintail Red-necked Grebe Black-crowned r White-rumped Sandpiper a Great Black-backed Gull a r Eurasian Dotterel c Garganey a Eared Grebe Night-Heron OYSTERCATCHER Baird's Sandpiper Sabine's Gull c Baikal Teal Western Grebe VULTURES, HAWKS, Black Oystercatcher Pectoral Sandpiper Black-legged Kittiwake FALCONS Green-winged Teal [Clark's Grebe] STILTS, AVOCETS Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Red-legged Kittiwake c Turkey Vulture Canvasback a Black-winged Stilt a Purple Sandpiper Ross' Gull Wings Over Alaska ALBATROSSES Osprey Redhead a Shy Albatross a American Avocet Rock Sandpiper Ivory Gull Bald Eagle c Common Pochard Laysan Albatross SANDPIPERS Dunlin r Caspian Tern c White-tailed Eagle Ring-necked Duck Black-footed Albatross r Common Greenshank c Curlew Sandpiper r Common Tern Alaska Bird Checklist c Steller's Sea-Eagle r Tufted Duck Short-tailed Albatross Greater Yellowlegs Stilt Sandpiper Arctic Tern for (your name) Northern Harrier Greater Scaup Lesser Yellowlegs c Spoonbill Sandpiper Aleutian Tern PETRELS, SHEARWATERS [Gray Frog-Hawk] Lesser Scaup a Marsh Sandpiper c Broad-billed Sandpiper a Sooty Tern Northern Fulmar Sharp-shinned Hawk Steller's Eider c Spotted Redshank Buff-breasted Sandpiper c White-winged Tern Mottled Petrel [Cooper's -
May 2019 Northern California Common Murre Mortality Fact Sheet Version 1.1 Last Updated June 13, 2019 by COASST with Input from Partners
May 2019 Northern California Common Murre Mortality Fact Sheet Version 1.1 last updated June 13, 2019 by COASST with input from partners Who: The Common Murre, Uria aalge, is a medium-sized (800-1100g/28-40 oz) seabird that feeds mostly on fish but also on small invertebrates, which it hunts by diving. white underwing linings white-tipped secondaries white-tipped secondaries breeding – dark head non-breeding – white face On the Pacific Coast of North America, Common Murres breed from Monterey County, California to Cape Lisburne, Alaska. Resembling penguins, this species is generally black above and white below, the head transitioning from black in the breeding season to white with a black eye-line in the winter. The black bill is smooth, straight, and pointed. As beached birds, murres are often identified by their white-tipped secondary feathers and white underwing linings. Population Size: ~13-20 million worldwide, ~4-8 million in western North America. Upwards of 1.5 million murres breed in the "Lower 48," centered in Oregon. Longevity: up to 25 years. Clutch Size: 1 egg annually; can sometimes lay a replacement egg if the first is lost early on. Conservation Status: Abundant population, listed as “Least Concern” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. What, Where and How Many: Starting in late May 2019, beachgoers began reporting unusual numbers of Common Murres washing ashore from Sonoma County north to Humboldt County, with most reports centered in the Fort Bragg area. Reports of floating dead murres have also been forthcoming. Over 550 murre carcasses have been reported to COASST from May 22nd through June 13th.