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Atoll Research Bulletin the Smithsoniaw Institution ATOLL RESEARCH BULLETIN No. 1fx THE NATURAL HISTORY OF KURE ATOLL, NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS by Paul W. Woodward Issued by THE SMITHSONIAW INSTITUTION with the assistance of The Bureau of Sp3rt Fisheries and Wildlife U.S. Department of the Interior Washington, D. C., U. S. A. December 31, 1972 TABU OF CONTENTS Table of Contents iii Figures Tables Introduction History 19th Century 20th Century Description Vegetation Climate Scientific Visits Biological Surveys Other Scientific Visits Kure Avifauna Introduction Breeding Species Common Non-breeding Species Rare Non-breeding Species Accidental Species Populations Annual Population Cycles Breeding Cycles Factors Affecting Nesting Success Polynesian Rats Storms High Tides Rain Human Disturbance Great Frigatebird Predation Seals Dogs Starvation Miscellaneous Factors Movement Suecies Accounts Black-footed Albatross, Diomedea nigripes Laysan Albatross, Diomedea immutabilis Black-footed x Laysan Albatross, Diomedea nigripes x immutabilis Northern Fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis rodgersii Bonin Petrel, Pterodroma h. hypoleuca Kermadec PetreL, ~terodrokaneglecta Murphy's Petrel, Pterodroma ultima Bulwer 's Petrel, Bulweria bulwerii Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Puffinus pacificus Sooty Shearwater, Puffinus griseus Christmas Shearwater, Puffinus nativitatis Leach's Storm Petrel, Oceanodroma leucorhoa Sooty Storm Petrel, Oceanodroma Cristrami Red-tailed Tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda White-tailed ~ro~icbird,-Phaethonlepturus Blue-faced Booby, Sula dactylatra Brown Booby, leucogaster Red-footed Booby, Sula sula Great Frigatebird, Fregata minor Lesser Frigatebird, Fregata Black-crowned Night Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax (hoactli?) Emperor Goose, Philacte canagica European Widgeon, Mareca penelope Pintail, Anas acuta Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula Bufflehead, Bucephala albeola Peregrine Falcon, ~alc-rinus (pealei?) Dotterel, Eudromias morinellus American Golden Plover, Pluvialis dominica Black-bellied Plover, Squatarola squatarola Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria Lntntt Pintail Snipe, Fapella Wood Sandpiper, Tringa glateola Wandering Tattler, I-Ieteroscelus incanum Lesser Yellowlegs, Totanus flavipes Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Erolia acuminata Pectoral Sandpiper, Erolia melanotos Sharp-tailed or Pectoral Sandpiper, Erolia acuminata or melanotos Dunlin, Erolia alpina sakhalina Long-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus scolopaceus Western Sandpiper, Ereunetes a Bar-tailed Godwit, Limssa lapponica Ruff, Philornachus pugnax Sanderling, Crocethia alba Red Phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis Herring Gull, Larus argentatus vs Slaty-backed Gull, schistisagus Glaucous-winged Gull, Larus glaucescens Glaucous Gull, hyperboreus Black-legged Kittiwake, Xissa tridactyla Black Tern, Chlidoniae niger Arctic Tern, Sterna paradisea Sooty Tern, sterna fuscata Gray-backed Tern, Sterna lunata Brown Noddy, Amstolidus Black Noddy, Amtenuiroetris White Tern, Gygis alba Horned Puffin, Fratercula corniculata Short-eared Owl, A& flammeus ( flammeus? ) Skylark, Alauda arvensis pekinensis Barn Swallow, Kirundo rustica Water Pipit, Anthus spinoletta japonicus Red-throated Pipit, Anthus cervinus House Sparrow, Passer domesticus Snow Bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis townsendi Sand Island Avifauna Specimens Kure Reptiles Species Accounts Hawksbill Turtle, Eratmochelys imbricata Green Sea Turtle, Chelonia mydas Stump-toed Gecko, Gehyra mutilata House Gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus Kure Mammals Species Accounts Squirrel Monkey, Saimiri sp. Polynesian Rat, Rattus exulans Goose-beaked Whale, Ziphius cavirostris Sperm Whale, Physeter catadon Hawaiian Spinner Dolphin, Stenella roseiventris Bottle-nosed Dolphin, Tursiops truncatu~ Hawaiian Monk Seal, Monachus schauinslandi Domestic Dog, canis familiaris Pig, -Sus scrofa Acknowledgments Literature Cited FIGURES Green Island, Kure Atoll. Vegetation of Green Island, Kure Atoll. Aerial view of Green Island, Kure Atoll, looking north, 6 April 1966. Aerial view of Green Island, Kure Atoll, looking south, 27 February 1968. Aerial view of building complex on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 13 October 1964. North antenna field from north tower, Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1 July 1968. Blue-faced Boobies in north antenna field, Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1 July 1968. Looking towards west point from radar reflector, Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1 July 1968. Breeding Red-footed Boobies in central roost, Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1 July 1968. South beach, Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1 July 1968. Edge of runway, Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1 July 1968. Looking towards north point from north tower, Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1 July 1968. Sooty Tern colony in south antenna field, Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1 July 1968. Generalized annual population cyc1.e~of breeding species at Kure Atoll. Generalized annual population cycles of non-breeding species at Kure Atoll. Generalized breeding cycles of avian speci.es at Kure Atoll. Location of islands or atolls in central Pacific where Kure-banded birds have been recaptured or vice-versa. vii Locations of birds banded at Kure Atoll and recovered at sea or outside the central Pacific. 84 Breeding cycle of Black-footed Albatross on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964-65. 93 Distribution and abundance of breeding Black-footed Albatross on Green Island, Kure .Atoll, May 1967. 97 Breeding cycle of Laysan Albatross on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964-65. 105 Distribution of breeding Laysan Albatross on Green Island, Kure Atoll, May 1967. LO7 Number of Bonin Petrels captured each night in two study areas, 11 February - 14 April 1969, on Green Island, Kure Atoll. 116 Counts of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters in the central plain on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1967-68. 124 Distribution of breeding Christmas Shearwaters and Sooty Storm Petrels on Green Island, Kure Atoll. 131 Annual population cycle of Red-tailed Tropicbirds flying over Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964-69. 138 Breeding cycles of Red-tailed Tropicbirds on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964-66. 139 Number of Red-tailed Tropicbird nests in which first egg was laid each semi-monthly period in study area at west end of runway on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964 -67. 141 Breeding cycles of Blue-faced Boobies on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964-69. 156 Number of Blue-faced Booby nests in which first egg was laid each semi-monthly period in north antenna field, Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964-69. 157 Number of Blue-faced Booby nests in which first eggs were laid each semi-monthly period on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964-69. 158 Number of Bl~e-facedBooby nests in which first eggs hatched each semi-monthly period on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964-69. 159 viii BFB-5. Distribution of breeding Blue-faced and Brown Boobies on Green Island, Kure Atoll. BB-1. Breeding cycles of Brown Boobies on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964-69. BB-2. Number of Brown Booby nests in which first egg was laid each semi-monthly period in north antenna field, Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964-68. BB-3. Number of Brown Booby nests in which first eggs were laid each semi-monthly period on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964-68. BB-4 . Number of Brown Booby nests in which first eggs hatched each semi-monthly period on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964-68. RFB-1. Breeding cycles of Red-footed Boobies on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1965-69. RFB-2. Number of Red-footed Booby nests in which first egg was laid each semi-monthly period on Green Island, Kure toll, 1968. RFB-3. Distribution of Red-footed Booby breeding and roosting areas on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1967-68. GF-1. Breeding cycles of Great Frigatebirds on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1965, 1968, 1969. GF-2. Distribution of Great Frigatebird breeding areas on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1967-68. AGP-1. Annual cycle of American Golden Plovers on Green Island, Kure Atoll. RT-1. Annual cycle of Ruddy Turnstones on Green Island, Kure Atoll. BTC-1. Annual cycle of Bristle-thighed Curlews on Green Island, Kwe Atoll. WTa-1. Annual cycle of Wandering Tattlers on Green Island, Kure Atoll. Sand-1. Annual cycle of Sanderlings on Green Island, Kure Atoll. ST-1. Breeding cycles of Sooty Terns on Green Island, Kure A~OU, 1965-69. ST-2. Distribution of Sooty Tern breeding areas on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964-65. ST-3. Distribution of Sooty Tern breeding areas on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1966-67. ST- 4. Distribution of Sooty Tern breeding areas on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1968-69. GBT-1. Number of Gray-backed Tern eggs laid each semi-monthly period on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1967-69. GBT-2. Breeding cycles of Gray-backed Terns on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1965-69. GBT-3. Distribution of breeding Gray-backed Terns on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1964-69. BN-1. Breeding cycles of Brown Noddies on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1965-69. BN-2. Number of Brown Noddy eggs laid each week at north point study area on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1967-68. BN-3. Distribution of breeding Brown Noddies on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1967. BlN-1. Main Black Noddy roosting area and White Tern breeding sites on Green Island, Kure Atoll. WT-1. Number of White Tern eggs laid each semi-monthly period on Green Island, Kure Atoll, 1967-68. F'R-1. Population size of Polynesian rats in a 6.94 acre study area on Green Island, Kure Atoll, March 1964- May 1965. Number of Hawaiian Monk Seal pups born each semi-- monthly period at Kure Atoll, 1964-65. TABLES P-1. Vascular plants recorded at Kure Atoll by various people. C-1. Wind direction at Kure Atoll by semi-monthly periods, 1961-68 (expressed as percentages). -2 Average semi-monthly wind speed in Beaufort Scale (numbers in parentheses are range) at Kure Atoll, 1961-68. C-3. Average semi-monthly maximum temperatures (numbers in parentheses are range) at Kure Atoll, 1961-68. C-4. Average semi-monthly minimum temperatures (numbers in parentheses are range) at Kure Atoll, 1961-68. C-5. Semi-monthly rainfall (in inches) at Midway Atoll, 1963-68. BS-1. Major biological surveys of Kure Atoll. BS-2. Minor biological surveys of Kure Atoll. BS-3. Total man-days spent at Kure Atoll by POBSP personnel. BS-4. Man-days spent at Kure Atoll by POBSP personnel (listed by years). POP-1. Maximum and minimum population estimates of avian species occurring commonly at Kure Atoll, 1964-69.
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