南太平洋的神话之鸟

南太平洋的神话之鸟

中国有黑嘴端凤头燕鸥。南太平洋有斐济圆尾鹱。也都是一度认为是已经绝种，但再次被发现的极危海鸟。

http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2009/09/fiji_petrel_discovery.html[/url]

Fiji Petrel found at sea – pungent fish attracts “lost” species

11-09-2009

An expedition to find the Critically Endangered Fiji Petrel Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi at sea has been successful, returning with stunning images and new information on one of the world’s least-known seabirds.

The expedition was partially financed by a grant from the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme and its official sponsor, the British Birdwatching Fair. The team included members of NatureFiji-MareqetiViti, the BirdLife Species Guardian for Fiji Petrel.

Known from just one specimen collected in 1855 on Gau Island, Fiji, the Fiji Petrel was lost for the next 130 years.  Since 1984 there have been a handful of reports of “grounded” birds that had crashed onto village roofs on Gau. Until now there had been no confirmed sightings of the seabird at sea.

The search for the elusive petrel is described in a paper in the latest Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. Up to eight individuals were seen over eleven days in an area around 25 nautical miles south of Gau. The species’ flight, behaviour and detailed comparison to other species are also described for the first time.

The paper’s lead author, Hadoram Shirihai, said: “Finding this bird and capturing such images was a fantastic and exhilarating experience”. Fellow expedition member Tony Pym commented, “To see such a little-known bird at such close range was magical.”

Finding Fiji Petrel at sea was no accident, combining meticulous planning and luring the seabirds with a specially made food, called “chum”. The main ingredients of chum? Fish offal cut into small pieces and mixed with very dense fish oil, to which water was added and then frozen in 10-kg blocks. The chum was prepared a few weeks ahead by volunteers from the BirdLife Affiliate in Fiji, NatureFiji-MareqetiViti, the official BirdLife Species Guardian for Fiji Petrel.

Frozen chum blocks persist for up to one-and-a-half hours, creating a pungent and constant oil slick, which attracts petrels from some miles away. On the second day, the first Fiji Petrel appeared, approaching the chum slick from downwind, slowly zigzagging over the slick, and suddenly changing direction to drop onto a small floating morsel.

Fiji Petrel is classified as Critically Endangered, with its perilous status confirmed by this expedition: “We observed only a few Fiji Petrels”, said Shirihai. “This was despite choosing what we considered to be the optimum month, and a method that would attract all petrels in the vicinity’’ and Pym added, “The present evidence is that very few Fiji Petrels survive, that immediate efforts to find the nest sites are needed, and prompt, effective protection is urgently required before it is too late.”

“More surveys to locate the breeding area of Fiji Petrel are planned for 2010”, said Dick Watling of NatureFiji-MareqetiViti,. “Once we know the location, we can assess what needs to be done to turn around the fortunes of this species.”

“Fiji Petrel is one of 192 bird species which are Critically Endangered,” said Jez Bird, Global Species Officer at BirdLife International.  “Because Fiji Petrel is exceptionally rare and extremely poorly known any new data concerning range and abundance are vital to its conservation.”

The expedition also gathered valuable distributional information on many other seabird species, including the Endangered Phoenix Petrel Pterodroma alba and the Vulnerable Gould’s Pterodroma leucoptera and Parkinson’s Petrels Procellaria parkinsoni.

[ 本帖最后由 Simba 于 2009-9-13 10:27 编辑 [/i]]

Simba 2009-9-13 10:26

斐济圆尾鹱的参考资料

[url]http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3881&m=0[/url]

For information about BirdLife Species Champions and Species Guardians visit the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme.

2009 IUCN Red List Category (as evaluated by BirdLife International - the official Red List Authority for birds for IUCN): Critically Endangered

Justification This species is classified as Critically Endangered because it estimated, given the paucity of recent records, that there is only a tiny population which is confined to a very small breeding area. Furthermore, it is assumed to be declining because of predation by cats, which may therefore threaten its long-term survival.

Family/Sub-family Procellariidae

Species name author (Gray, 1860)

Taxonomic source(s) Brooke (2004), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)

Synonyms Pterodroma macgillivrayi Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), Pterodroma macgillivrayi Collar et al. (1994), Pterodroma macgillivrayi Collar and Andrew (1988)

Identification 30 cm. Small, dark gadfly petrel. Dark chocolate-brown all over, perhaps darker around face. Black bill, dark eye. Pale washed-out blue tarsi. Mostly black feet with pale blue patch on centre of inner web. Similar spp. Size and colour may cause confusion with Black Noddy Anous minutus and Brown Noddy A. stolidus, but it lacks white cap and has characteristic petrel flight. Difficult to distinguish from Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii which has buff-coloured wing-bars running diagonally across the upperwing surface and flies low over the sea. Hints May be seen in waters around Gau Island but believed to disperse to pelagic waters far from the island.

Population estimate　　　＜50

Population trend       decreasing

Range estimate (breeding/resident)    154,000 km2

Country endemic?        Yes

Range & population Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi was known from just one immature specimen collected in 1855 on Gau Island, Fiji, but between 1984-2007 there were a total of 16 reports of grounded birds on Gau10. Most records relate to immature birds that have landed on the roofs of houses in Nawaikama or Nukuloa villages, a number of which have died, and several specimens have been obtained from these fatalities2,7. The most recent record concerns a bird that landed in Levuka village in April 20077. At sea, there have been 10 unconfirmed reports; a possible Fiji Petrel sighted c.400 km north of Bougainville Island in 2007 constituting the most recent7,10. It may occur on other islands in the vicinity, e.g. Taveuni4. An at-sea expedition in Fijian waters in July 2008 failed to locate the species8, as did another voyage in July-August 2008 in the Bismarck archipelago between New Britain and New Ireland where individuals resembling P. macgillivrayi had been seen in previous years9, but further searches are planned, both at sea and on its potential breeding grounds.

Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria.

Ecology: It is likely to breed amongst large numbers of Collared Petrel Pterodroma brevipes in the rugged terrain of interior Gau (where over 70 km2 of suitable forest exists up to 715 m)3.

Threats The servicing of a recently constructed telecommunications transmitter on the summit of Gau may facilitate the movement of feral cats and rats (Pacific rat Rattus exulans and brown rat R. norvegicus) to the breeding area2, and thereby increase predation. Although P. brevipes seems to nest successfully (and its seasonal breeding in the first half of the year may swamp cat predation), it is possible that P. macgillivrayi has a more prolonged breeding season later in the year, and it could therefore suffer disproportionately3. Feral pigs have recently become established on the southern hinterland of Gau and they may represent a serious additional threat6.

Conservation measures underway The rarity and significance of this species has been promoted to local residents and it is featured on a Fijian bank note. It is protected under Fijian law. Repeated surveys in the 1980s attempting to find evidence of breeding failed and no further work was undertaken for 10 years. In 2003, a Recovery Plan for the Fiji Petrel was drawn up with the assistance of the National Parks and Wildlife Dept. of New South Wales. In 2004, the National Trust of Fiji initiated a year-long community awareness programme on the island in association with RARE. Also in 2004 the Trust, with BirdLife Fiji and the Wildlife Conservation Society, initiated a community-based project intended to attract petrels to an accessible location and thereby procure more information from grounded birds, together with an initiative to protect the Gau highlands where the petrel is believed to nest. Data from one petrel was collected5. Further surveys occurred in 2003-2004 but again these were unsuccessful. The most urgent priority remains locating the breeding grounds. As part of BirdLife's Preventing Extinctions programme Mareqeti Viti (Nature Fiji) have taken on the role of Species Guardian and are implementing the following actions: implementation of the Fiji Petrel Recovery Plan is ongoing; workshops are being planned to raise awareness of the proper handling techniques for grounded birds and to develop local expertise in the collection of scientific data following such incidents; specially trained 'wildlife search' dogs are currently being trained using feathers from a freshly dead specimen (with the first searches planned for July 2009); and a comprehensive scientific review of the Fiji Petrel and its conservation has been undertaken and recently published10.

Conservation measures proposed On Gau, conduct surveys employing petrel specialists and using spotlighting, radio-tracking and trained wildlife searching sniffer dogs1,7. Develop local expertise to assist with, or carry out, surveys1. Continue to raise awareness on Gau, and put in place a process for rapid alert to and acquisition of any ground birds7. Assess the breeding success and threats to P. brevipes. Survey seas off other suitable islands.

References 1. SPREP (2000). 2. Watling (2000). 3. Watling and Lewanavanua (1985). 4. D. Watling verbally (2000). 5. D. Watling in litt. (2005). 6. Priddel and Carlile (2004). 7. Priddel et al. (in prep.). 8. J Millett in litt. (2008). 9. Shirihai (2008). 10. BirdLife International (2008). 11. Priddel et al. (2008).

Further web sources of information

Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) species/site profile. This species has been identified as an AZE trigger due to its IUCN Red List status and limited range.

Species Guardian Action Update November 2008

Text account compilers Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Ben Lascelles (BirdLife International), Andrew O'Brien (BirdLife International), Sue Shutes (BirdLife International), Alison Stattersfield (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International), Helen Temple (BirdLife International)

Contributors Guy Dutson (Birds Australia), James Millet (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), Dick Watling (Environment Consultants Fiji)

IUCN Red List evaluators Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Pseudobulweria macgillivrayi. Downloaded from [url]http://www.birdlife.org on 13/9/2009

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

[[i] 本帖最后由 Simba 于 2009-9-13 10:31 编辑 ]