Background: Sooty (Puffinus griseus) and short-tailed (P. tenuirostris) shearwaters are abundant seabirds that range widely across global oceans. Understanding the foraging ecology of these species in the Southern Ocean is important for monitoring and ecosystem conservation and management. Methodology/Principal Findings: Tracking data from sooty and short-tailed shearwaters from three regions of New Zealand and Australia were combined with at-sea observations of shearwaters in the Southern Ocean, physical oceanography, nearsurface copepod distributions, pelagic trawl data, and synoptic near-surface winds. Shearwaters from all three regions foraged in the Polar Front zone, and showed particular overlap in the region around 140uE. Short-tailed shearwaters from South Australia also foraged in Antarctic waters south of the Polar Front. The spatial distribution of shearwater foraging effort in the Polar Front zone was matched by patterns in large-scale upwelling, primary production, and abundances of copepods and myctophid fish. Oceanic winds were found to be broad determinants of foraging distribution, and of the flight paths taken by the birds on long foraging trips to Antarctic waters. Conclusions/Significance: The shearwaters displayed foraging site fidelity and overlap of foraging habitat between species and populations that may enhance their utility as indicators of Southern Ocean ecosystems. The results highlight the importance of upwellings due to interactions of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current with large-scale bottom topography, and the corresponding localised increases in the productivity of the Polar Front ecosystem.

/pdf/shearwater-foraging-in-the-southern-ocean-the-roles-of-prey-3zj9tecrca.pdf

Shearwater Foraging in the Southern Ocean: The Roles of Prey Availability and Winds

In a fast‐changing world, successful communication of traditional cultural principles and practices of guardianship and stewardship across generations is more important than ever before. This study investigates knowledge and learning in relation to the last large‐scale customary harvest of a seabird in New Zealand, the titi (Puffinus griseus), by Rakiura Maori. Semi‐directed interviews were conducted with 20 titi‐harvesting elders. We sought firstly to identify the key knowledge‐holders and mechanisms for the transmission of ecological knowledge, as well as the cultural and spiritual beliefs interwoven with harvest practice. Secondly, we sought to identify modern challenges to traditional pathways of learning, and the changing roles of knowledge holders in the harvesting community. Traditional approaches, including observation, hands‐on experience, and storytelling, continue as the main mechanisms for knowledge transmission. Awareness of ancestors (tupuna) and taboo improve compliance of accepted...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03014220909510153

Knowing by doing: learning for sustainable muttonbird harvesting

Eradication of introduced mammalian predators from islands has become increasingly common, with over 800 successful projects around the world. Historically, introduced predators extirpated or reduced the size of many seabird populations, changing the dynamics of entire island ecosystems. Although the primary outcome of many eradication projects is the restoration of affected seabird populations, natural population responses are rarely documented and mechanisms are poorly understood. We used a generic model of seabird colony growth to identify key predictor variables relevant to recovery or recolonization. We used generalized linear mixed models to test the importance of these variables in driving seabird population responses after predator eradication on islands around New Zealand. The most influential variable affecting recolonization of seabirds around New Zealand was the distance to a source population, with few cases of recolonization without a source population ≤25 km away. Colony growth was most affected by metapopulation status; there was little colony growth in species with a declining status. These characteristics may facilitate the prioritization of newly predator-free islands for active management. Although we found some evidence documenting natural recovery, generally this topic was understudied. Our results suggest that in order to guide management strategies, more effort should be allocated to monitoring wildlife response after eradication.

Drivers of Seabird Population Recovery on New Zealand Islands after Predator Eradication

This study of customary harvests of sooty shearwater Puffinus griseus chicks by Rakiura Maori compares the utility of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and ecological science for understanding patterns in prey availability. We recorded TEK of 28 muttonbirders about emergence patterns and variation in chick size at different aspects of 14 breeding islands and in their coastal fringe compared to inland areas. Spatial and temporal variation of chick availability were measured using the methods of ecological science in the 2001 harvest season across Putauhinu Island, south west of Rakiura, New Zealand. As predicted by TEK, titi emerged earlier from west than east coast locations on Putauhinu. Scientific measures were also consistent with an earlier emergence in coastal compared to inland areas as asserted by TEK, but conclusive inference is potentially confounded by movement of chicks between burrows just before fledging. A TEK construct predicting heavier chicks on the west coast was not suppor...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03014220909510154

Traditional ecological knowledge and scientific inference of prey availability: harvests of sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) chicks by Rakiura Maori.

Recent comprehensive survey data from multiple New Zealand offshore islands were combined with demographic population models to produce the first formal estimate of the total population of sooty shearwaters within New Zealand territory. We estimated the total population over 1994–2005 to be 21.3 (19.0–23.6) million individual birds in the New Zealand region. This population consisted of 12.8 (12.0–13.6) million adults, 2.8 (2.5–3.1) million chicks, and 4.4 (4.2–4.7) million breeding pairs. Breeding sooty shearwaters were concentrated primarily around the southern islands of New Zealand, with 53% breeding in the Titi Islands surrounding Rakiura (Stewart Island). Rakiura Maori muttonbirders were estimated to harvest 360 000 (320 000–400 000) sooty shearwaters per year, equivalent to 18% of the chicks produced in the harvested areas and 13% of chicks in the New Zealand region. Overall, 11% of the chicks within the Titi Islands live on unharvested ground. Systematic and widespread surveys of breeding...

/pdf/estimating-regional-population-size-and-annual-harvest-3dz4020qgb.pdf

Estimating regional population size and annual harvest intensity of the sooty shearwater in New Zealand.

We estimated the change in abundance of sooty shearwater (titi, Puffinus griseus) at six Rakiura Titi Islands, New Zealand, by comparing historical and recent surveys of the density of entrances to breeding burrows. We found evidence that entrance density between 1994 and 2006 was lower than it was between 1961 and 1976. Our overall estimate of the annual rate of change in burrow entrance density is ‐1.0% (95% CI ‐2.3 to ‐ 0.1%). Declines have been slower on four islands where Rakiura Maori maintain a traditional harvest of sooty shearwater chicks ("muttonbirding") compared with three unharvested islands. Density‐dependent population processes may explain this difference: rates of decline have been faster in areas of relatively high initial entrance density, and historically the harvested islands have had lower initial density. There was a strong, apparently linear, relationship between entrance density and chick density on breeding colonies, so changes in entrance density probably do indicate a ...

/pdf/changes-in-sooty-shearwater-puffinus-griseus-abundance-and-3v2wahut7a.pdf

Changes in sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) abundance and harvesting on the Rakiura Titi Islands

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Changes in sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) abundance and harvesting on the Rakiura Titi Islands