Coastal birds can weather the storm, but not the sea

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

by University of Connecticut

How can birds that weigh less than a AA battery survive the immense power of Atlantic hurricanes? A new study in Ecology Letters finds that these coastal birds survive because their populations can absorb impacts and recover quickly from hurricanes—even storms many times larger than anything previously observed.

"Coastal birds are often held up as symbols of vulnerability to hurricanes and oil spills, but many populations can be quite resilient to big disturbances," explains lead author Dr. Christopher Field, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland's National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC). "The impacts of hurricanes, in terms of populations rather than individual birds, tend to be surprisingly small compared to the other threats that are causing these species to decline."

Field and colleagues from five other universities studied the resilience of four species of coastal birds, including the endangered Saltmarsh Sparrow. The researchers developed simulations that allowed them to explore how disturbances like hurricanes would affect the birds' populations over time. They started with models that project population sizes into the future based on the species' birth and death rates. The research team then subjected these populations to simulated hurricanes that killed a certain number of birds. Because they were using computational simulations, the researchers were able to look at the full range of potential hurricane sizes—from storms that caused no bird deaths to storms that were more severe than anything ever observed.

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Short-term effects of hurricanes Irma and Maria on Puerto Rico's forest birds

JUNE 25, 2019

by Karen M. Bourque, Vermont Center for Ecostudies

In September of 2017, hurricanes Irma and Maria delivered a devastating one-two punch to Puerto Rico, causing significant defoliation of the island's forests. While the detrimental effects of these storms on human populations was well-documented, little was known about how the island's bird populations were affected - until now. A new paper published in PLOS ONE by Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE) and colleagues compares occupancy of birds in forested areas across Puerto Rico during a winter before (2015) and shortly after (2018) the passage of these hurricanes. Using dynamic community models analyzed within a Bayesian framework, the authors find significant changes in species detectability, with some species becoming more readily detected after the storms and others becoming more difficult to detect.

In 2015, VCE biologists Chris Rimmer and John Lloyd (now of American Wind Wildlife Institute), along with José Salguero-Faría of Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña, conducted geographically extensive surveys across Puerto Rico to study the winter distribution of Bicknell's Thrush (Catharus bicknelli). Although focused on locating Bicknell's, the team recorded all avian species detected during its 211 point count surveys, for general insight into the assemblage of forest birds present on Puerto Rico during winter. Unbeknownst to the researchers then, their cross-species data would prove invaluable to assess the impacts of catastrophic weather on the island's birds.

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Extinction looms for two rare bird species after devastating hurricanes

October 25, 2017 by Joann Adkins

Conservation biologist Paul Reillo is torn between two worlds in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria—one of swift action and one of waiting.

There is little time to rest. More than 200 animals, many fighting extinction, are relying on him. The FIU scientist is the founder of the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation (RSCF), a partner in FIU's Tropical Conservation Institute (TCI), which offers safe haven, captive breeding programs and field-based conservation to help save endangered species. In a matter of two weeks, two species of birds on the brink of extinction were dealt devastating blows when Hurricanes Irma and Maria crossed the Caribbean, leaving devastation in their wakes. The team at the Tropical Conservation Institute knows it is facing an unprecedented conservation crisis.

Working

Hurricane Irma caused more than $200,000 in damages at RSCF's property in Loxahatchee, Fla. Little could be done to save enclosures and fences from the storm, but Reillo and his team secured the animals, including 40 endangered east African bongo antelopes, 35 primates including endangered golden lion tamarins, nearly 100 parrots representing a variety of threatened and endangered species and 42 critically endangered Florida grasshopper sparrows.

The TCI team is putting in long hours to rebuild what was destroyed at the RSCF facility and to help the animals recover from the stress brought on by the storm. The Florida grasshopper sparrows are the greatest cause for concern. It is the world's most endangered bird with less than 100 remaining in the wild before Irma. The team fears the hurricane has crippled the wild population which resides exclusively in the prairie grasses of Central Florida. They are working with state and federal wildlife officials on strategies to help preserve the small number of birds that remain on the planet.

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Extinction looms for two rare bird species after devastating hurricanes

Posted by JoAnn Adkins × 10/24/2017 at 2:05 pm

Conservationists race to save remaining populations

Conservation biologist Paul Reillo is torn between two worlds in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria — one of swift action and one of waiting.

There is little time to rest. More than 200 animals, many fighting extinction, are relying on him. The FIU scientist is the founder of the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation (RSCF), a partner in FIU’s Tropical Conservation Institute (TCI), which offers safe haven, captive breeding programs and field-based conservation to help save endangered species. In a matter of two weeks, two species of birds on the brink of extinction were dealt devastating blows when Hurricanes Irma and Maria crossed the Caribbean, leaving devastation in their wakes. The team at the Tropical Conservation Institute knows it is facing an unprecedented conservation crisis.

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Migratory seabird deaths linked to hurricanes

Migrating sooty terns threatened by hurricane-force winds, which may increase with climate change

Date: May 11, 2017

Source: Duke University

Stronger and more frequent hurricanes may pose a new threat to the sooty tern, an iconic species of migratory seabird found throughout the Caribbean and Mid-Atlantic, a new Duke University-led study reveals.

The study, published this week in the peer-reviewed open-access journal PeerJ, is the first to map the birds' annual migratory path and demonstrate how its timing and trajectory place them in the direct path of hurricanes moving into the Caribbean after forming over the Atlantic.

"The route the birds take and that most Atlantic-forming hurricanes take is basically the same, only in reverse," said Ryan Huang, a doctoral student at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, who led the study. "That means these birds, who are usually very tired from traveling long distances over water without rest, are flying head-on into some of the strongest winds on the planet."

"This is worrying because we know that as Earth's climate changes, we expect to see more frequent and powerful hurricanes in the future -- meaning that the chances of sooty terns being hit by storms will likely go up," Huang said.

Hurricane season typically lasts from June to November, with peak activity occurring in August and September.

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Hurricanes Present Another Threat to Birds Before and During Fall Migration

Published by surfbirds on August 12, 2014 courtesy of American Bird Conservancy

Hurricanes Iselle, Julio, and Arthur are the first of what likely will be more powerful late summer and early fall severe storms that billions of birds may face as they wind up their breeding seasons and prepare for perilous migrations that can involve travelling thousands of miles to wintering grounds south of the U.S.

“While human safety is always the primary concern, with hurricanes, the impact such storms bring can be deadly for birds as well. Depending on circumstances, whole colonies of young birds may be wiped out — a whole breeding season gone. Parents tending young may stay with a nest and perish rather than abandon it for safer grounds. Nature can be brutal,” says Dr. George Wallace, Vice President for the Oceans and Islands Division at American Bird Conservancy (ABC), one of the nation’s leading bird conservation groups.

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