DOCSLIB.ORG

Evolutionary Relationships Among Extant Albatrosses (Procellariiformes: Diomedeidae) Established from Complete Cytochrome-B Gene Sequences

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Evolutionary Relationships Among Extant Albatrosses (Procellariiformes: Diomedeidae) Established from Complete Cytochrome-B Gene Sequences The Auk 113(4):784-801, 1996 EVOLUTIONARY RELATIONSHIPS AMONG EXTANT ALBATROSSES (PROCELLARIIFORMES: DIOMEDEIDAE) ESTABLISHED FROM COMPLETE CYTOCHROME-B GENE SEQUENCES GARY B. NUNN, •'6JOHN COOPER,2 PIERREJOUVENTIN, 3 CHRIS J. R. ROBERTSON,4 AND GRAHAM G. ROBERTSONs XDepartmentof Ornithology,American Museum of NaturalHistory, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, New York 10024, USA; 2PercyFitzPatrick Institute of AfricanOrnithology, University of CapeTown, Rondebosch7700, South Africa; 3CentreNational de la RechercheScientifique, Centre D'Etudes Biologique de Chize, F79360 Villiers en Bois,France; 4Departmentof Conservation,Science and Research Division, ConservationSciences Centre, Wellington, New Zealand;and 5AustralianAntarctic Division, Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania, Australia ABSTR•Cr.--Completemitochondrial cytochrome-b gene sequences(1,143 bp) were deter- mined from the 14 extant speciesin the Diomedeidae(albatrosses and mollymawks)and in two outgroupspecies from the Procellariidae(petrels and shearwaters). Phylogenetic analysis using maximumparsimony and maximumlikelihood methods identified a singlebest-sup- ported hypothesisof evolutionaryrelationships within the Diomedeidae,namely that two lineagesarose early in the evolution of the Diomedeidae.A further bifurcationin each of theselineages resulted in four monophyleticgroups of albatrosses:(1) southernmollymawks, (2) sootyalbatrosses, (3) North Pacificalbatrosses, and (4) "great" albatrosses.Monophyly of the southernmollymawks (Diomedea bulleri, D. cauta,D. chlororhynchos,D. chrysostoma, and D. melanophris)and sootyalbatrosses (Phoebetria fusca and P. palpebrata)indicates that Diomedea is paraphyletic.Resurrection of two genera,dropped historically in taxonomyof the Diome- deidae, resultsin a total of four genera. Calibrationsbased on the fossil record indicate that cytochrome-bevolutionary rates in albatrossesare slow comparedwith thoseof mostmam- mals. Received21 August1995, accepted 10 May 1996. THE ALBATROSSESAND MOLLYMAWKS(Family The discovery of a small population of an Diomedeidae) are the most familiar and best undescribed"great" albatrosson Amsterdam Is- studiedgroup of procellariiform(or tube-nosed) land in the Indian Ocean (D. amsterdamensis; seabirdsdue largely to their highly philopatric Roux et al. 1983) brought the total number of nature and diurnal attendance at breeding lo- speciesto 14 (Sibley and Monroe 1990). Much calities, where their surface nests are easily controversyexists regarding the exacttaxonom- monitored (Warham 1990). The 13 traditionally ic status of D. amsterdamensis.In particular, its acceptedspecies of albatrossesare widely dis- relationship to subspecifictaxa of D. exulans, tributed throughout the southern oceans,the which breed on low-latitude islands in the North Pacific Ocean, and, in a single case,the southern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, is not well tropical Pacific Ocean (Harris 1973, Harrison understood (Bourne 1989, Robertson and War- 1983, Marchant and Higgins 1990). Fossil evi- ham 1992). An affinity among thesetaxa seems dence of albatrossspecies present in the North likely because,to differing degrees, they share Atlantic Ocean (Lydekker 1891a,b; Wetmore the retention of dark juvenal or immatureplum- 1943), which are most similar to the extant Di- age as reproducingadults (plumage paedomor- omedea albatrus of the North Pacific Ocean, in- phosis). In contrast, populations of the larger- dicates that the Diomedeidae once were truly sized D. exulans, which occur on subantarctic cosmopolitanin oceanicdistribution. islandsat higher latitudes, have a white plum- age asbreeding adults.Additional geneticanal- ysis of individuals from all populations of ex- E-mail:[email protected] ulanswill help resolve the much-debated tax- 784 October 1996] AlbatrossMolecular Phylogeny 785 TABLE1. The introductionand principalchanges to describedgenera within the Diomedeidae. Authority Generaand changes Linnaeus (1758) Diomedeagert. nov. Reichenbach (1852) Thalassarchegen. nov.; Phoebastriagen. nov.; and Phoebetriagen. nov. Coues (1866) SubBurned Thalassarche and Phoebastffa into Diomedea Baird et al. (1884) Thalassagerongen. nov. Mathews (1912) ResurrectedThalassarche; Diomedella gen. nov.; Nealbatrusgen. nov. Murphy (1917) Rhothoniasubgen. nov. Mathews (1934) Resurrected Phoebastria Mathews and Hallstrom SubBurnedRhothonia into Diomedea;transferred taxon from Phoebastriato (1943) Julietatagen. nov. Mathews (1948) SubBurned all albatrosses into Diomedea Boetticher (1949) in Galapagornisgen. nov.; Laysanornisgert. nov.; Penthireniagert. nov. Jouaninand Mougin (1979) Alexander et al. (1965) Standardized use of Diomedea and Phoebetria onomy of the amsterdamensis-exulanscomplex (G. higher-level phylogeneticrelationships among Nunn unpubl. data). the 14 extantspecies of Diomedeidae.The choice Based on elements of biogeographic distri- of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b(cyt-b) gene bution, a simple allometricrelationship of wing as an evolutionary marker for our study was and tail length, and charactersof the divided basedon severalfactors. First, the completegene plates making up the rhamphothecaof the bill, sequence,as well as flanking regions, are well the 14 albatrossspecies fall into four natural characterizedin birds (Desjardins and Morals groups: (1) the southern mollymawks, (2) the 1990, Helm-Bychowskiand Cracraft 1993, Kor- North Pacificalbatrosses, (3) the "great" alba- negay et al. 1993, Nunn and Cracraft 1996) and trosses,and (4) the sooty albatrosses(Warham other vertebrate groups (Jermiin et al. 1994), 1990).On the basisof completeadult fuliginous enabling the design of oligonucleotideprimers plumage coloration, longer wedge-shapedtail, that amplifyby polymerasechain reaction (PCR) cuneate body form, and presenceof a colored in a broad phylogenetic range of birds. Second, fleshy sulcus separating the ramicorns of the the fast evolutionary rate of changein cyt-bhas lower mandible (a morphologicalfeature found proven most suitable for studying recently di- in other procellariiforms),a traditional hypoth- vergent groups (Meyer 1994) and in birds has esis of relationships within the Diomedeidae successfullyresolved relationships from the recognizesa simple demarcationof two genera: specieslevel (Richman and Price 1992, E. Smith the "primitive" sooty albatrossgenus Phoebetria et al. 1992, Blechschmidtet al. 1993) to generic and a more comprehensivegenus Diomedea that and familial levels (Krajewskiand Fetzner 1994, envelopes the North Pacific albatrosses,the Lanyonand Hall 1994,Murray et al. 1994).Third, "great" albatrosses,and the southern molly- cyt-bis one of the larger protein-codinggenes mawks (Coues1866, Peters 1931, Murphy 1936, in tl•e avian mitochondrial genome(Desjardins Alexanderet al. 1965,Jouanin and Mougin 1979, and Morals 1990), and, so far, presentsno prob- Warham 1990).Consideration of other morpho- lem of alignment amongbirds. Finally, the ex- logicalfeatures historically have led to the split- panding use of cyt-bgene sequencesas a source ting of current members of Diomedeainto ad- of qualitative data for studiesof avian system- ditional generic groups (seeTable 1), although atics ensures that in the near future a dense none has gained common acceptance.Indeed, sampling of diversetaxa will be available,lead- Mathews (1948)went on to producean entirely ing to a common improvement of phylogeny- lumped albatrossgenus Diomedeacomprised of building within birds. all known species,including Phoebetria. Our genetic study explored several basic In view of both the traditional hypothesisof questionsconcerning the patterns and rates of albatrossrelationships based on a small number evolution among extant albatrossspecies: (1) Is of morphological features in this conservative the traditional classificationcongruent with a group, and the confusingtaxonomy within the molecularphylogeny, i.e. is Phoebetriaa sister- comprehensivegenus Diomedea,we used mi- group to the remaining Diomedeidae, as ten- tochondrial DNA sequences to investigate uously surmisedby a handful of "primitive" 786 Nu ET^•. [Auk, Vol. 113 characters(see Murphy 1936) that are shared i0 mM •5-mercaptoethanol;i mM eachof dGTP,dATP, with other petrels?(2) Does the molecularev- dTTP, and dCTP; ! M of each primer; i0-i,000 ng of idence offer any support for morphologically completegenomic DNA; and 2.5 units of Taq poly- definedgroups previously delimited within Di- merase(Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase,Perkin- omedea(Coues 1866)? (3) What absolute evolu- Elmer-Cetus). The dsDNA products were visualized in a 2% NuSieve low-melting point agarosegel (FMC tionary rate calibrationis suggestedfor cyt-bin Bioproducts)containing 2 pg. ml • ethidium-bromide the Diomedeidae,and how doesthis compare (Maniatis et al. 1982). The dsDNA product was cut with other estimates of the molecular clock for directlyfrom the gel and resuspendedin 300/xLwater this gene (Irwin et al. 1991,Martin et al. 1992)? by heating to 73øCfor 15 min. Further primer pairswere usedto amplify double- METHODS strandedDNA subfragmentsfrom the isolatedcyt-b gene (i.e. Li4863/H15104, Li4863/Hi5298, L14990/ Studyorganisms.--Samples of fresh blood or liver H15298, L15236/H15505, Li5311/H15710, L15656/ tissue were collected from the extant speciesof al- H16065); for original primer descriptionssee Helm- batrossesand two speciesof the Procellariidae. Most Bychowskiand Cracraft(1993) and referencesthere- blood samples were collected from chicks or incu- in. A large degree of fragment overlap, as well
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Plumage Variation and Hybridization in Black-Footed and Laysan Albatrosses
    PlumaDevariation and hybridizationin Black-footedand LaysanAlbatrosses Tristan McKee P.O. Box631 Ferndale,California 95536 (eraall:bertmckee•yahoo.com) PeterPyle 4990Shoreline Highway SUnsonBeach, California 94970 (email:[email protected]) INTRODUCTION Black-footed(Phoebastria nigripes) and Laysan (P. immutabilis) Albatrosses nest sideby sidein denseisland colonies. Their breeding populations center in the northwesternHawaiian Islands, with smaller colonies scattered across the subtrop- icalNorth Pacific. Both species visit nutrient-rich waters off the west coast of North Americathroughout the year to forage. Black-footeds concentrate in coastal waters fromnorthern California tosouthern Alaska, while Laysans frequent more offshore andnortherly waters in thisregion. Bkders on pelagic trips off the West Coast often encountersignificant numbers of oneor bothof thesespecies, and searching for other,rarer albatrosses among them has proven to be a worthwhile pursuit in recen! years(Stallcup and Terrill 1996, Cole 2000). Albatrossesidentified as Black-looted x Laysan hybrids have been seen and studiedon MidwayAtoll and other northwestern Hawaiian Islands since the late 1800s(Rothschild 1900, Fisher 1948, 1972). In addition,considerable variation in appearanceis found within both species, indMduals with strikinglyaberrant plumageand soft part colors occasionally being encountered (Fisher 1972, Whittow 1993a).Midway Atoll hosts approximately two-thirds of the world'sbreeding A presumedhybrid Laysan x Black-lootedAlbatross tends a chickat Midway LaysanAlbatrosses
    [Show full text]
  • PDF/36 2/36 2 175-181.Pdf Stenhouse
    VOLUME 15, ISSUE 1, ARTICLE 11 D'Entremont, K. J. N., L. Minich Zitske, A. J. Gladwell, N. K. Elliott, R. A. Mauck, and R. A. Ronconi. 2020. Breeding population decline and associations with nest site use of Leach’s Storm-Petrels on Kent Island, New Brunswick from 2001 to 2018. Avian Conservation and Ecology 15(1):11. https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-01526-150111 Copyright © 2020 by the author(s). Published here under license by the Resilience Alliance. Research Paper Breeding population decline and associations with nest site use of Leach’s Storm-Petrels on Kent Island, New Brunswick from 2001 to 2018 Kyle J. N. d'Entremont 1,2, Laura Minich Zitske 3,4, Alison J. Gladwell 1, Nathan K. Elliott 3,5, Robert A. Mauck 6 and Robert A. Ronconi 7,8 1Dalhousie University, Canada, 2Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, 3Bowdoin College, USA, 4Maine Audubon, USA, 5Point Blue Conservation Science, USA, 6Kenyon College, USA, 7Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Dartmouth, NS, Canada, 8Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada ABSTRACT. Leach’s Storm-Petrels (Hydrobates leucorhous) are burrow-nesting seabirds that breed on coastal islands throughout much of the North Atlantic, with most of the world’s population breeding in Atlantic Canada. Population declines in the past 20–30 years have resulted in the species being uplisted to “Vulnerable” on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. One of the species’ most well-studied colonies is on Kent Island, New Brunswick in the Bay of Fundy.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservation Problems on Tristan Da Cunha Byj
    28 Oryx Conservation Problems on Tristan da Cunha ByJ. H. Flint The author spent two years, 1963-65, as schoolmaster on Tristan da Cunha, during which he spent four weeks on Nightingale Island. On the main island he found that bird stocks were being depleted and the islanders taking too many eggs and young; on Nightingale, however, where there are over two million pairs of great shearwaters, the harvest of these birds could be greater. Inaccessible Island, which like Nightingale, is without cats, dogs or rats, should be declared a wildlife sanctuary. Tl^HEN the first permanent settlers came to Tristan da Cunha in " the early years of the nineteenth century they found an island rich in bird and sea mammal life. "The mountains are covered with Albatross Mellahs Petrels Seahens, etc.," wrote Jonathan Lambert in 1811, and Midshipman Greene, who stayed on the island in 1816, recorded in his diary "Sea Elephants herding together in immense numbers." Today the picture is greatly changed. A century and a half of human habitation has drastically reduced the larger, edible species, and the accidental introduction of rats from a shipwreck in 1882 accelerated the birds' decline on the main island. Wood-cutting, grazing by domestic stock and, more recently, fumes from the volcano have destroyed much of the natural vegetation near the settlement, and two bird subspecies, a bunting and a flightless moorhen, have become extinct on the main island. Curiously, one is liable to see more birds on the day of arrival than in several weeks ashore. When I first saw Tristan from the decks of M.V.
    [Show full text]
  • Puffinus Gravis (Great Shearwater)
    Maine 2015 Wildlife Action Plan Revision Report Date: January 13, 2016 Puffinus gravis (Great Shearwater) Priority 3 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) Class: Aves (Birds) Order: Procellariiformes (Tubenoses) Family: Procellariidae (Fulmers, Petrels, And Shearwaters) General comments: Status seems secure though limited data Species Conservation Range Maps for Great Shearwater: Town Map: Puffinus gravis_Towns.pdf Subwatershed Map: Puffinus gravis_HUC12.pdf SGCN Priority Ranking - Designation Criteria: Risk of Extirpation: NA State Special Concern or NMFS Species of Concern: NA Recent Significant Declines: NA Regional Endemic: NA High Regional Conservation Priority: North American Waterbird Conservation Plan: High Concern United States Birds of Conservation Concern: Bird of Conservation Concern in Bird Conservation Regions 14 and/or 30: Yes High Climate Change Vulnerability: NA Understudied rare taxa: NA Historical: NA Culturally Significant: NA Habitats Assigned to Great Shearwater: Formation Name Cliff & Rock Macrogroup Name Rocky Coast Formation Name Subtidal Macrogroup Name Subtidal Pelagic (Water Column) Habitat System Name: Offshore **Primary Habitat** Stressors Assigned to Great Shearwater: No Stressors Currently Assigned to Great Shearwater or other Priority 3 SGCN. Species Level Conservation Actions Assigned to Great Shearwater: No Species Specific Conservation Actions Currently Assigned to Great Shearwater or other Priority 3 SGCN. Guild Level Conservation Actions: This Species is currently not attributed to a guild.
    [Show full text]
  • Proposal for Inclusion of the Antipodean Albatross in Appendix I
    CONVENTION ON UNEP/CMS/COP13/Doc. 27.1.7 MIGRATORY 25 September 2019 Original: English SPECIES 13th MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES Gandhinagar, India, 17 - 22 February 2020 Agenda Item 27.1 PROPOSAL FOR THE INCLUSION OF THE ANTIPODEAN ALBATROSS (Diomedea antipodensis) ON APPENDIX I OF THE CONVENTION Summary: The Governments of New Zealand, Australia and Chile have submitted the attached proposal for the inclusion of the Antipodean albatross (Diomedea antipodensis) on Appendix I of CMS. The geographical designations employed in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the CMS Secretariat (or the United Nations Environment Programme) concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The responsibility for the contents of the document rests exclusively with its author. UNEP/CMS/COP13/Doc. 27.1.7 PROPOSAL FOR INCLUSION OF THE ANTIPODEAN ALBATROSS (Diomedea antipodensis) ON APPENDIX I OF THE CONVENTION A. PROPOSAL Inclusion of Diomedea antipodensis on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) Appendix I. The current CMS Appendix II listing will remain in place. Diomedea antipodensis is classified as Endangered (IUCN) as it is undergoing a very rapid decline in population size. B. PROPONENT: Governments of New Zealand, Australia and Chile. C. SUPPORTING STATEMENT 1. Taxonomy 1.1 Class: Aves 1.2 Order: Procellariiformes 1.3 Family: Diomedeidae (albatrosses) 1.4 Genus, species or subspecies, including author and year: Diomedea antipodensis (Robertson & Warham 1992), including two subspecies: Diomedea antipodensis antipodensis and Diomedea antipodensis gibsoni 1.5 Scientific synonyms: Diomedea exulans antipodensis Diomedea antipodensis was formerly included in the wandering albatross complex (Diomedea exulans) (e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • The Stormy Petrel (Procellaria Pelagica)
    THE 0.8~ O.SEMI-ANNUAL. 37 THE STORMYPETREL. Procellaria Pelagica. DY W. RAINE, TORONTO, CANADA This interesting little bird, though rare in North America, is plen- tiful on the British side of the Atlantic Ocean. It is supposed to be the smallest web-footed bird known, and seldom comes to shore ex- cept during the breeding season, when they resort to such places as the Stilly Islands, in the English Channel, and the islands of the Irish Sea; but their chief nesting places are in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, and St. Kilda and STORMY PETREL. the outer Hebrides. This bird is well known to sailors by the name of Mother Carey’s Chicken, and hated by them because it foretells an approaching storm. They are mostly seen in stormy weather, because the marine crea- tures, on which they feed, are tossed to the surface of the chopping waves, and can be easily picked up by the bird as it passes over the waves, pattering the water with its webbed feet, and flapping its wings so as to keep itself just above the surface. The name Petrel is given to these birds on account of its powers of walking on the water, as is related of St. Peter. This bird seems very happy during rough weather, and many a ship-wrecked sailor, while clinging half locausted to some floating wreckage, has envied this little bird of its powers of flight, as it traverses the rolling, seething billows with wonderful ease. It feeds on the little fish, crustaceaus and molluses which are found in abundance on the surface of the sea.
    [Show full text]
  • White-Chinned Petrel Distribution, Abundance and Connectivity: NZ Populations and Their Global Context
    White-chinned petrel distribution, abundance and connectivity: NZ populations and their global context Kalinka Rexer-Huber Final report to Conservation Services Programme, Department of Conservation December 2017 Please cite as: Rexer-Huber, K. 2017 White-chinned petrel distribution, abundance and connectivity: NZ populations and their global context. Report to NZ Deparment of Conservation. Parker Conservation, Dunedin pp 13. 1 Rexer-Huber | White-chinned petrels Summary The white-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis is one of the most frequently observed seabird species captured in fisheries bycatch, yet some populations remain virtually unstudied. In the New Zealand region, the priority programmes to fill key information gaps included surveying, tracking and collecting demographic data from white-chinned petrels in the Auckland Islands. Survey of the Campbell Island population and clarification of taxonomic uncertainty in the New Zealand region were secondary aims. The scope of this report is to summarise research findings, with focus on New Zealand populations of white-chinned petrels. An estimated 186,000 (95% CI: 131,000–248,000) white-chinned petrel pairs breed in the Auckland Islands, and the Campbell Island group supports around 22,000 (15,000–29,000) breeding pairs. The New Zealand region supports almost a third of white-chinned petrels globally, but population trends remain unknown. We establish population baselines that can be repeated for trend estimation. A tracking programme in the Auckland Islands has retrieved 40 geolocators from white-chinned petrels, which were analysed together with tracking data from all major island populations. NZ populations do not overlap at sea with populations from South Atlantic or Indian Ocean islands.
    [Show full text]
  • Tube-Nosed Seabirds) Unique Characteristics
    PELAGIC SEABIRDS OF THE CALIFORNIA CURRENT SYSTEM & CORDELL BANK NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY Written by Carol A. Keiper August, 2008 Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary protects an area of 529 square miles in one of the most productive offshore regions in North America. The sanctuary is located approximately 43 nautical miles northwest of the Golden Gate Bridge, and San Francisco California. The prominent feature of the Sanctuary is a submerged granite bank 4.5 miles wide and 9.5 miles long, which lay submerged 115 feet below the ocean’s surface. This unique undersea topography, in combination with the nutrient-rich ocean conditions created by the physical process of upwelling, produces a lush feeding ground. for countless invertebrates, fishes (over 180 species), marine mammals (over 25 species), and seabirds (over 60 species). The undersea oasis of the Cordell Bank and surrounding waters teems with life and provides food for hundreds of thousands of seabirds that travel from the Farallon Islands and the Point Reyes peninsula or have migrated thousands of miles from Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, and South America. Cordell Bank is also known as the albatross capital of the Northern Hemisphere because numerous species visit these waters. The US National Marine Sanctuaries are administered and managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) who work with the public and other partners to balance human use and enjoyment with long-term conservation. There are four major orders of seabirds: 1) Sphenisciformes – penguins 2) *Procellariformes – albatross, fulmars, shearwaters, petrels 3) Pelecaniformes – pelicans, boobies, cormorants, frigate birds 4) *Charadriiformes - Gulls, Terns, & Alcids *Orders presented in this seminar In general, seabirds have life histories characterized by low productivity, delayed maturity, and relatively high adult survival.
    [Show full text]
  • Natural Resources Science Plan
    NATURAL RESOURCES SCIENCE PLAN 2011-2015 PAPAHÄNAUMOKUÄKEA MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENT NATURAL RESOURCES SCIENCE PLAN April 2011 Prepared by: Papahänaumokuäkea Marine National Monument National Oceanic and United States Fish and Hawai‘i Department of Land and Atmospheric Administration Wildlife Service Natural Resources 6600 Kalanianaole Highway, Suite 300 300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 5-231 1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 130 Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96825 Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96850 Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96813 NATURAL RESOURCES SCIENCE PLAN 2011-2015 Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Overview of the Monument.....................................................................................3 1.2 Purpose and Scope of the Plan.................................................................................4 1.3 Stakeholders ............................................................................................................5 2.0 SUMMARY OF PLANNING PROCESS .................................................................... 6 2.1 Development of a Research and Monitoring Framework for the Monument .............6 2.2 Public Review and Comment...................................................................................7 2.3 Profiling Ongoing and Potential New Research and Monitoring Projects .................9 2.4 Identification of Research and Monitoring Gaps and Needs...................................10 2.5 Prioritization of Research and Monitoring Activities...............................................10
    [Show full text]
  • NSW Vagrant Bird Review
    an atlas of the birds of new south wales and the australian capital territory Vagrant Species Ian A.W. McAllan & David J. James The species listed here are those that have been found on very few occasions (usually less than 20 times) in NSW and the ACT, and are not known to have bred here. Species that have been recorded breeding in NSW are included in the Species Accounts sections of the three volumes, even if they have been recorded in the Atlas area less than 20 times. In determining the number of records of a species, when several birds are recorded in a short period together, or whether alive or dead, these are here referred to as a ‘set’ of records. The cut-off date for vagrant records and reports is 31 December 2019. As with the rest of the Atlas, the area covered in this account includes marine waters east from the NSW coast to 160°E. This is approximately 865 km east of the coast at its widest extent in the south of the State. The New South Wales-Queensland border lies at about 28°08’S at the coast, following the centre of Border Street through Coolangatta and Tweed Heads to Point Danger (Anon. 2001a). This means that the Britannia Seamounts, where many rare seabirds have been recorded on extended pelagic trips from Southport, Queensland, are east of the NSW coast and therefore in NSW and the Atlas area. Conversely, the lookout at Point Danger is to the north of the actual Point and in Queensland but looks over both NSW and Queensland marine waters.
    [Show full text]
  • ILSOLC Bird Checklist
    Birding in Seguin Irma Lewis Seguin Outdoor Irma Lewis Seguin, Texas is located in south- central Texas, in an ecological area on Learning Center Seguin Outdoor Learning the boundary of Blackland Prairie to the north and the Post Oak Savannah The Seguin Outdoor Learning Center to the south and east. Most of the Center a 115-acre private, non surrounding land is in agricultural use, primarily cattle grazing, providing a -profit educational facility fairly diverse environment for birds. nestled along Geronimo Creek The Guadalupe River runs through the in northeast Seguin. Our city. Large pecan and cypress trees line the river, including the city park, facilities include a pavilion, Starcke Park, on Bus. 123 South. The natural history center, walking trail in Starcke Park East, along the confluence of Walnut Branch, environmental science center, offers good birding for warblers, blue- amphitheater, ropes course, “Education Through Experience For All Ages” birds and other passerines. Several small reservoirs located along the river nature trail, outdoor class- near town, including Lakes Dunlap, room and pond. Schools, youth McQueeney, and Placid also provide groups, sports teams, clubs, areas for waterfowl. churches and corporations enjoy our peaceful, natural Some species that are common around setting where children and Seguin may be of special interest to citizens of the community can birders from other regions. learn through discovery and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers are unique adventure common during the breeding season. Look for them on fences and telephone experiences. wires anywhere in the countryside around Seguin. Crested Caracaras are The ILSOLC is open to also common in the countryside and are Birding Hours: members, scheduled and especially visible when feeding on Monday-Friday, 8a-5p road-kill carcasses, often in the supervised groups only.
    [Show full text]
  • LAYSAN ALBATROSS Phoebastria Immutabilis
    Alaska Seabird Information Series LAYSAN ALBATROSS Phoebastria immutabilis Conservation Status ALASKA: High N. AMERICAN: High Concern GLOBAL: Vulnerable Breed Eggs Incubation Fledge Nest Feeding Behavior Diet Nov-July 1 ~ 65 d 165 d ground scrape surface dip fish, squid, fish eggs and waste Life History and Distribution Laysan Albatrosses (Phoebastria immutabilis) breed primarily in the Hawaiian Islands, but they inhabit Alaskan waters during the summer months to feed. They are the 6 most abundant of the three albatross species that visit 200 en Alaska. l The albatross has been described as the “true nomad ff Pok e of the oceans.” Once fledged, it remains at sea for three to J ht ig five years before returning to the island where it was born. r When birds are eight or nine years old they begin to breed. y The breeding season is November to July and the rest of Cop the year, the birds remain at sea. Strong, effortless flight is commonly seen in the southern Bering Sea, Aleutian the key to being able to spend so much time in the air. The Islands, and the northwestern Gulf of Alaska. albatross takes advantage of air currents just above the Nonbreeders may remain in Alaska throughout the year ocean's waves to soar in perpetual fluid motion. It may not and breeding birds are known to travel from Hawaii to flap its wings for hours, or even for days. The aerial Alaska in search of food for their young. Albatrosses master never touches land outside the breeding season, but have the ability to concentrate the food they catch and it does rest on the water to feed and sleep.
    [Show full text]