Seabirds rescued after wild weather pushes them as far inland as NSW Central Tablelands

By Emma Siossian

Wild weather off Australia's east coast has pushed seabirds hundreds of kilometres inland, with some rescued at Canberra and on NSW's Southern and Central tablelands.

Key points:

A number of the seabirds were found exhausted and underweight; some have since died

It's hoped they will eventually be released back out to sea, certainly not until Cyclone Uesi has had its time impacting the east coast

There's also been another rare sighting of a Bulwer's petrel, which don't usually venture too far from the equator

Mick Roderick from Birdlife Australia said it was not unusual for rough weather to knock birds off course, but the latest weather system had resulted in some very rare sightings.

"Even before the wild weather, we saw a lot of sooty terns close to the coast, which is unusual — there may be something going on with their food source," he said.

"But then the east coast low hit during the week and that has absolutely sent a lot of these seabirds off course.

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Lovebirds ace maneuvers in the dark

JULY 9, 2019

by Stanford University

While pilots rely on radio signals, advanced computations and tools to keep them on course during strong crosswinds, birds can naturally navigate these demanding conditions—and do so in environments with little visibility. To understand how they accomplish this feat, researchers in the lab of David Lentink, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University, studied lovebirds flying in a crosswind tunnel which features customizable wind and light settings.

This research, published July 9 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could inspire more robust and computationally efficient visual control algorithms for autonomous aerial robots.

This is the first study of how birds orient their bodies, necks and heads to fly through extreme 45-degree crosswinds over short ranges—both in bright visual environments and in dark, cave-like environments, where a faint point of light is the only visual beacon. To the researchers' surprise, the lovebirds navigated all environments equally well.

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Rainy weather predicts bird distribution -- but climate change could disrupt it

Date:  July 11, 2018

Source:  American Ornithological Society Publications Office

     

Understanding what environmental cues birds use to time their annual migrations and decide where to settle is crucial for predicting how they'll be affected by a shifting climate. A new study from The Auk: Ornithological Advances shows that for two species of flycatcher, one of the key factors is rain -- the more precipitation an area receives, the more likely the birds are to be there during the non-breeding season.

Tulane University's Maggie MacPherson and her colleagues combined field techniques with species distribution models to investigate which environmental factors drove the migrations of Eastern Kingbirds and Fork-tailed Flycatchers. Using geolocators, devices that record a bird's daily location based on day length, they could track where individuals of each species went. The two species share similar behavior and habitat requirements, but differ in their range and migration strategies, and these strategies were compared to determine the influence of temperature, precipitation, and primary productivity (the amount of "green" vegetation). Precipitation turned out to be one of the most important predictors of their distribution, particularly in the non-breeding season.

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Penguin chick weights connected to local weather conditions

Date:

October 27, 2014

Source:

University of Delaware

Summary:

Oceanographers have reported a connection between local weather conditions and the weight of Adélie penguin chicks. Adélie penguins are an indigenous species of the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), one of the most rapidly warming areas on Earth. Since 1950, the average annual temperature in the Antarctic Peninsula has increased 2 degrees Celsius on average, and 6 degrees Celsius during winter.

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Songbird carnage hits Duluth

Bob Collins October 7, 2014, 8:27 AM3

In Paul Douglas’ weather column on the Star Tribune yesterday, Todd Nelson reports on an odd phenomenon on the North Shore over the weekend.

I had one of the worst driving trips along Minnesota’s North Shore this weekend. While the fall colors where a treat to look at, I couldn’t help but notice how many small birds were being hit by cars.

It seemed as though these small warbler, wren-like birds were sure having a tough time combating the gusty winds on Saturday. My only thought is that they were so tired out from the wind and potential migration that they were unable to dodge oncoming traffic.

The drive switched from enjoyable to somber as we noticed more and more small birds on the side of the road… anybody have any ideas on what was going on here?

We have an answer, thanks to Sam Cook at the Duluth News Tribune today, who reports that at least 68 songbirds had died as of Monday. They were migrating when pushed along by northwest winds and to avoid Lake Superior, they hugged the shoreline.

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Predators and the weather take their pick of bird

The local countryside scene in July is reviewed by John Almond with the help of members and friends of Alnwick and District Natural History Society.

As the breeding season for most bird species drew to a close it was time to assess the success or otherwise this year when the weather has changed from one extreme to another.

The cold, wet spring had a particularly bad effect on butterflies but they seem to have made use of the mostly fine weather in July to get on with mating and laying eggs.

A spotted flycatcher was still nesting near Powburn on July 1.

In Belle Vue Gardens, a song thrush was taking food for young on July 1 and 5, a robin was collecting food for young on July 3, and a juvenile robin was present on July 5.On July 4, blue tits, coal tits, song thrush and blackbird were reported to have nested in Royal Oak Gardens.

There was mixed success for the Long Nanny colony of nesting birds.

On July 4, there were 2,000 pairs of Arctic terns and 18 pairs of little terns.

Predation by a kestrel feeding young was causing problems with the subsequent loss of chicks and even adult birds.

There was only one little tern chick left at the end of the month, a badger being thought to be responsible for the losses.

A ringed plover was present on July 4, but the eight pairs that had attempted to nest were thwarted by black headed gulls.

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Scotland's seabirds have declined 53% in 25 years

RSPB COMMENTS

In response to this report by Scottish Natural Heritage. Rory Crawford, seabird policy officer with RSPB Scotland, said: “This report from SNH is timely. These declines are in line with what we’ve seen on our own reserves and this should act as a call to action. Better management of the sandeel fishery and efforts to control non-native species are both really welcome and RSPB Scotland support these steps strongly. However, although the nature conservation measures in the Marine (Scotland) Act are a brilliant step forward for many marine habitats and species, seabirds have been largely ignored in the process of identifying protected areas. Seabirds must be better protected at sea and RSPB Scotland strongly encourages the Scottish Government to ensure that steps are taken to protect seabirds through Marine Protected Areas before they are consulted on next summer.”

New report confirms Scotland's seabird decline
November 2012. A new report by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has confirmed results from previous years that showed that Scotland's seabird numbers have continued to decline, although there are some species that have fared better than others.

53% drop in breeding seabirds in 25 years
The report uses data collected by volunteers and professionals from a sample of breeding colonies around Scotland. It shows that, from 1986 to 2011, the numbers of seabirds breeding in Scotland has dropped by around 53%.

11 species reviewed
Of the 11 species reviewed over the 25-year period, the numbers of nine decreased. The largest declines were for the Arctic skua (74%), Arctic tern (72%) and black-legged kittiwake (66%). Two seabirds have remained stable (black guillemot and northern fulmar).

Food shortages, weather conditions and predation by non-native species
The continuing decreases have been linked to a range of factors such as food shortages, weather conditions and predation by non-native species such as brown rats and mink. The number of small shoaling fish, which are an important food source for many seabirds, may have fallen. These fish are probably being affected by rising sea temperatures because of climate change, as well as other factors.

Efforts to halt the decline
A range of measures has been put in place to help combat pressures on the seabirds. Voluntary reductions in sandeel fisheries means that very little if any sandeel fishing now takes place within the foraging range of kittiwakes, a species which has seen a particularly sharp drop in numbers in recent years. The control of non-native predators, such as the brown rat and the American mink, has also been carried out on various parts of the Scottish coastline and islands and is now starting to show some benefits, with terns re-colonising some areas. The Scottish Government's Marine Bill also includes measures to improve marine nature conservation to safeguard and protect Scotland's unique habitats.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/scotland-seabirds2012.html#cr