Latest Seabird Stories
Climate differences have less impact on the transmission of blood parasites than expected Seabirds often live in large colonies in very confined spaces. Parasites, such as fleas and ticks, take advantage of this ideal habitat with its rich supply of nutrition. As a result, they can transmit blood parasites like avian malaria to the birds. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell and a team of international colleagues have investigated whether this affects all...
In order to identify the flight routes of the birds, postgraduate Matthias Kopp, under the guidance of Dr. Peter, equipped South Polar skuas with geolocators in their breeding areas on King George Island, about 120 kilometers off the Antarctic Mainland. Thus he has been screening their position data over a period of several years, followed by an analysis together with British colleagues and a scientist from Switzerland. "With the help of these data we can now for the first time...
For one species of seabird in the Galápagos, the child abuse "cycle of violence" found in humans plays out in the wild. The new study of Nazca boobies by Wake Forest University researchers provides the first evidence from the animal world showing those who are abused when they are young often grow up to be abusers. The study appears in the October issue of the ornithology journal, The Auk. "We were surprised by the intense interest that many adults show in unrelated young, involving...
Reduced catches of small oceanic "˜forage' fish like sardines and anchovies may be required in some ocean areas in order to protect the larger predators that rely on these species for food.This is a finding of the first major study of the ecosystem effects of fishing forage species: "˜Impacts of fishing low trophic level species on marine ecosystems', reported today in the journal Science.Dr Tony Smith of CSIRO's Wealth from Oceans Flagship led the international team of 12 authors from...
Feathers collected from the rare Pacific black-footed albatross over the past 120 years have helped researchers from Harvard University track increases in the neurotoxin methylmercury in the endangered bird, which forages extensively throughout the Pacific, reports AFP. Scientists took the feather samples from two US museum collections -- the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology and the University of Washington Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. Studies of the feathers...
An international research team working with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) scientists at the Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML) in Charleston, S.C., has suggested for the first time that mercury cycling in the flora and fauna of the Arctic may be linked to the amount of ice cover present. Their study* is the latest work reported from the Seabird Tissue Archival and Monitoring Project (STAMP), a multiyear joint effort of NIST, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS),...
Queen's-led study links metal contamination of Arctic ponds to seabirds' dietsA collaborative research team led by Queen's University biologists has found that potent metals like mercury and lead, ingested by Arctic seabirds feeding in the ocean, end up in the sediment of polar ponds."Birds feeding on different diets will funnel different 'cocktails' of metal contaminants from the ocean back to terrestrial ecosystems, which can then affect other living organisms," says lead author...
An unprecedented study of bald eagle diet, from about 20,000 to 30,000 years ago to the present, will provide wildlife managers with unique information for reintroducing Bald Eagles to the Channel Islands off California. The scientists, including researchers from the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory, found that eagles fed mainly on seabirds from about 20,000 to 30,000 years ago to the 1840s and 50s, when humans introduced sheep. The seabirds provided an abundant source of carrion...
Birds uniquely adapted to cool, dry summersIQALUIT -- Warmer, wetter weather in the Canadian Arctic could create problems for nesting seabirds, say a team of Canadian scientists who, between them, have spent over 7,000 days observing birds in the North.Arctic birds are uniquely adapted to survive in the cold, dry summers that mark the high Arctic. However, warmer temperatures are bringing more storm events, including incidents of heavy fog, rain, freezing rain, wet snow and stronger...
A proposed EU ban on throwing unwanted fish overboard from commercial boats could put one of the North Sea's most successful sea birds at risk, say researchers at the University of Leeds.New research led by Dr Keith Hamer will assess the extent to which gannets rely on unwanted fish and offal thrown from fishing boats to successfully breed and raise their chicks."The North Sea has undergone massive environmental changes over the last twenty years, which has put pressure on nearly all sea...
Latest Seabird Reference Libraries
The Great Frigate bird (fregata minor) is a big dispersive seabird in the frigatebird family. Their major nesting populations are found in the Pacific, including the Galapagos Islands and the Indian Oceans, plus a population in the South Atlantic. This bird is a lightly built large seabird up to 105 cm in length with feathers that are mostly black. This species shows sexual dimorphism; the female bird is bigger than the adult male with a white throat and breast, and the male’s scapular...
The Great Shearwater (puffinus gravis) is a large shearwater in a seabird family called Procellariidae. There is unclear evidence of its relationships. The Great Shearwater belongs to a group consisting of large species that can be distinguished as genus Ardenna; within these, it might be associated with the other blunt-tailed black-billed species Short-tailed Shearwater and particularly the Sooty Shearwater. On the other hand, it could be a monotypic subgenus (ardenna sensu stricto), a...
A large member of the loon, or diver, family of birds, this species is well-known as the Common Loon in North America and the Great Northern Diver in Eurasia; its current name is a compromise proposed by the International Ornithological Committee. There are 5 loon species that make up the genus Gavia, the only genus of the family Gavidae and order Gaviiformes. The Great Northern Loon is only one of those 5 species. The Yellow Billed Loon or the While Billed Diver is a large black headed...
Brandt's Cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus), is a species of marine bird of the cormorant family of seabirds. It inhabits the Pacific coast of North America. Its summer range extends from Alaska to the Gulf of California. The populations north of Vancouver Island migrate south during the winter. The bird’s specific name, penicillatus, is Latin for ‘pencil of hairs,’ in reference to the white plumes on its neck and back during the early breeding season. The common name honors...
The South Polar Skua (Stercorarius maccormicki), is a species of seabird that is found on the Antarctic coasts. It is migratory and winters at sea in the Pacific Indian and Atlantic Oceans. In the eastern North Atlantic Ocean it is replaced by the Great Skua. It was formerly known as the MacCormick's Skua as its binomial was named after the naval surgeon Robert McCormick, who collected the type specimen. This is a large Skua which is nearly 21 inches long. It has a massive barrel chest...
