Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2021
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster V18
Höfundar / Authors: (1) Erpur Snær Hansen, (2) April Hedd
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: (1) Náttúrustofa Suðurlands, Vestmannaeyjum, (2) Environment & Climate Change Canada, Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, Canada
Kynnir / Presenter: Erpur Snær Hansen
Small burrow-nesting seabirds are important components of marine ecosystems worldwide. However, for many species, distribution and behaviour remain poorly known, as birds are cryptic at colonies and have small body sizes which, until recently, have precluded tracking. For species in decline, these information gaps hamper conservation efforts. Leach’s Storm-Petrel (LSP; 45 g) is Vulnerable globally and within Iceland, and is declining within major breeding centres in the NE and NW Atlantic. Here we use miniaturized (0.75 g) geolocation-immersion loggers to study year-round distribution, colony attendance and at-sea activity patterns of LSP, providing preliminary information for 5 birds tracked from Elliðaey Is., Vestmannaeyjar, 2019-2021. Birds were highly migratory; 2 of 3 complete tracks were trans-equatorial migrations with birds wintering in the Benguela upwelling region off southwest Africa. The third individual wintered in deep equatorial waters of the central Atlantic. Birds began migrating south mid-Aug to mid-Sept, departed wintering grounds mid-March to early April and returned to the colony mid-April to mid-May. During incubation, foraging trips averaged 3.7 ± 1.3 d. Birds foraged in deep, pelagic waters south of Iceland while raising chicks, largely within 300 km of the colony. Identifying the breeding and wintering grounds is essential to understanding drivers of population change, enabling assessment of risks and environmental conditions experienced year-round.