Effort to preserve lory population shows success

Long-term project to protect endangered birds by starting new colony helps save species

Date:  July 18, 2018

Source:  San Diego Zoo Global

A long-term plan to preserve the Rimatara lorikeet by restoring an extirpated population of the species on a neighboring island that is free of predatory ship rats is demonstrating the importance of this kind of protective program for the sustainability of endangered bird species. A case study published in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) report Global Reintroduction Perspectives: 2018 -- Case Studies from Around the Globe sums up the results of an effort that began in 2000.

"The important thing about any conservation program is the ability to demonstrate that a species can be saved over the long term," said Alan Lieberman, retired director of field conservation programs for the Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global. "It is easy to get excited during the initial steps, but you don't know if you have succeeded until a decade or so later. In this case, we started with 27 birds captured on Rimatara and then translocated to Atiu Island, and we now have a population of well over 300."

The Rimatara lorikeet is considered to be an endangered species by BirdLife International and IUCN. Although originally distributed over the Cook and French Polynesia islands, its numbers were severely reduced and it disappeared in prehistoric times from most islands due to hunting for its bright red feathers.

Blue and ultramarine lories have been extirpated, as ship rats have invaded more islands in French Polynesia. The last natural population of the Rimatara lorikeet could easily be destroyed if ship rats invaded Rimatara, via cargo or a shipwreck. Nearby Atiu had similar habitats to Rimatara and was still free of ship rats, so it was an obvious choice for the establishment of a reserve population.

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Previously unknown 'supercolony' of Adélie penguins discovered in Antarctica

Date:  March 2, 2018

Source:  Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Summary:

In a paper released on March 2nd in the journal Scientific Reports, the scientists announced the discovery of a previously unknown 'supercolony' of more than 1,500,000 Adélie Penguins in the Danger Islands, a chain of remote, rocky islands off of the Antarctic Peninsula's northern tip.  

For the past 40 years, the total number of Adélie Penguins, one of the most common on the Antarctic Peninsula, has been steadily declining -- or so biologists have thought. A new study led by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), however, is providing new insights on of this species of penguin. In a paper released on March 2nd in the journal Scientific Reports, the scientists announced the discovery of a previously unknown "supercolony" of more than 1,500,000 Adélie Penguins in the Danger Islands, a chain of remote, rocky islands off of the Antarctic Peninsula's northern tip.

"Until recently, the Danger Islands weren't known to be an important penguin habitat," says co-PI Heather Lynch, Associate Professor of Ecology & Evolution at Stony Brook University. These supercolonies have gone undetected for decades, she notes, partly because of the remoteness of the islands themselves, and partly the treacherous waters that surround them. Even in the austral summer, the nearby ocean is filled with thick sea ice, making it extremely difficult to access.

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First colony of Red-billed Tropicbirds found on the Canary Islands

Announcing the news on the Facebook page Lanzarote Pelagics posted the following information;

In 2014 and 2015 two Red-billed Tropicbirds were present on Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, but there was no proof of breeding. In 2016 Tony Mulet located two birds, in the same place that they had been observed in both 2014 and 2015, and recorded that they were regularly attending the cliffs there.

Later, local ornithologist Marcelo Cabrera noted the same birds. In May, on a visit to this site to try to confirm breeding of the species, it was confirmed that breeding was occurring and that at least 20 individuals including eight pairs were present. Elsewhere in the Canary Islands Red-billed Tropicbirds breed in single pairs.

Later in the year Daniel López Velasco corroborated this information, and suspects the presence of another population in another location on Fuerteventura, but he has not yet been able to confirm this.

Without a doubt, the species is set to grow by the Canary Islands, but the location of the colony will be withheld due to sensitivities.

As the name suggests, the Red-billed Tropicbird is a species of tropical waters, ranging from the eastern Pacific through to the Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Red Sea, Arabian Gulf and the north-west Indian Ocean. Historically within the Western Palearctic, breeding has been known only from Cape Verde, with this and the Galapagos populations being the species' key global populations.

The first confirmed breeding record for Europe came from the Azores in 1993, whilst, with ever increasing numbers being seen in the Canary Islands (most likely involving post-breeding birds from the Cape Verde population), it was only a matter of time before breeding was confirmed on the archipelago.

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