Sooty shearwater

Sooty shearwater
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Subclass: Neornithes
Infraclass: Neognathae
Superorder: Neoaves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Ardenna
Species: A. grisea
Binomial name
Ardenna grisea
(Gmelin, 1789)
Range of the Sooty shearwater in dark blue and breeding sites in yellow

The sooty shearwater (Ardenna grisea) is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. Ardenna was first used to refer to a seabird by Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1603, and grisea is medieval Latin for "grey".[2]

In New Zealand it is also known by its Māori name tītī and as muttonbird, like its relatives the wedge-tailed shearwater (A. pacificus) and the Australian short-tailed shearwater (A. tenuirostris).

It appears to be particularly closely related to the great shearwater (A. gravis) and the short-tailed shearwater, all blunt-tailed, black-billed species, but its precise relationships are obscure.[3][4][5] In any case, these three species are among the larger species of shearwater that have been moved into a separate genus Ardenna based on a phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA.[6][7][8]

Description

Up close, the chocolate-coloured plumage can be appreciated

Sooty shearwaters are 40–51 cm in length with a 94–110 cm wingspan.[9] It has the typical "shearing" flight of the genus, dipping from side to side on stiff wings with few wing beats, the wingtips almost touching the water. Its flight is powerful and direct, with wings held stiff and straight, giving the impression of a very small albatross. This shearwater is identifiable by its dark plumage, which is responsible for its name. In poor viewing conditions, it looks all black, but in good light, it shows as dark chocolate-brown a silvery strip along the center of the underwing.

Usually loud, sooty shearwaters coo and croak while on the breeding grounds.

In the Atlantic, it is the only such bird, whereas in the Pacific part of its range, other all-dark large shearwaters are found. The short-tailed shearwater in particular is almost impossible to tell apart from the present species at a distance.[10]

Distribution and movements

Upper body of a bird swimming off the shore of California

Sooty shearwaters breed on small islands in the south Pacific and south Atlantic Oceans, mainly around New Zealand, the Falkland Islands, Tierra del Fuego and also in the Auckland Islands and Phillip Island off southern Victoria in Australia. They start breeding in October, and incubate their young for about 54 days. Once the chick hatches, the parents raise their chick for 86 to 109 days.[9]

They are spectacular long-distance migrants, following a circular route,[11] traveling north up the western side of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans at the end of the nesting season in March–May, reaching subarctic waters in June–July where they cross from west to east, then returning south down the eastern side of the oceans in September–October, reaching to the breeding colonies in November. They do not migrate as a flock, but rather as single individuals, associating only opportunistically; in June 1906 for example, two were shot near Guadalupe Island off Baja California, Mexico, several weeks before the bulk of the population would pass by.[12] Likewise, the identity of numerous large dark shearwaters observed in October 2004 off Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands remains enigmatic; they might have been either sooty or short-tailed shearwaters, but neither species is generally held to pass through this region at that time.[10]

In the Atlantic Ocean, they cover distances in excess of 14,000 km (8,700 mi) from their breeding colony on the Falkland Islands (52°S 60°W) north to 60 to 70°N in the North Atlantic Ocean off north Norway; distances covered in the Pacific are similar or larger; although the Pacific Ocean colonies are not quite so far south, at 35 to 50°S off New Zealand, and moving north to the Aleutian Islands, the longitudinal width of the ocean makes longer migrations necessary. Recent tagging experiments have shown that birds breeding in New Zealand may travel 74,000 km in a year, reaching Japan, Alaska and California, averaging more than 500 km per day.[13]

In Great Britain, they move south in late August and September; with strong north and north-west winds, they may occasionally become "trapped" in the shallow, largely enclosed North Sea, and heavy passages may be seen flying back north up the British east coast as they re-trace their steps back to the Atlantic over northern Scotland.

Ecology and status

A small portion of a huge flock off the shore of California, United States in September

The sooty shearwater feeds on fish and squid. They can dive up to 68 m deep for food,[13] but more commonly take surface food, in particular often following whales to catch fish disturbed by them. They will also follow fishing boats to take fish scraps thrown overboard.

They breed in huge colonies and the female lays one white egg. These shearwaters nest in burrows lined with plant material, which are visited only at night to avoid predation by large gulls.

In New Zealand, about 250,000 mutton birds are harvested for oils, food and fats each year by the native Māori.[9] Young birds just about to fledge are collected from the burrows, plucked, and often preserved in salt.

Its numbers have been declining in recent decades, and it is presently classified as near threatened by the IUCN.[1] In 2009, the harvest reported record-low catches, on average a trapping cage would yield nearly 500 birds; in 2009 the number was estimated to be closer to 40 per cage.

Inspiration for Hitchcock's The Birds

On August 18, 1961, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that thousands of crazed sooty shearwaters[14] were sighted on the shores of North Monterey Bay in California, regurgitating anchovies, flying into objects, and dying on the streets. The incident sparked the interest of local resident Alfred Hitchcock, along with a story about spooky bird behavior by British writer Daphne du Maurier, helping to inspire Hitchcock's 1963 thriller The Birds, a cautionary tale of nature revolting against man.[15] The film is now ranked among the American Film Institute's top 10 thrillers of the last century.

Scientists looking at the stomach contents of turtles and seabirds gathered in 1961 Monterey Bay ship surveys have found toxin-making algae were present in 79% of the plankton[16] the creatures ate. "I am pretty convinced that the birds were poisoned," says ocean environmentalist Sibel Bargu of Louisiana State University. "All the symptoms were extremely similar to later bird poisoning events in the same area."

Plankton expert Raphael Kudela of USC points to leaky septic tanks installed amid a housing boom around Monterey Bay in the early 1960s as the ultimate culprit that may have fed the toxic algae[17] "It is to some extent a natural phenomenon, and the best thing we can do is monitor for the presence of toxins, and treat impacted wildlife."

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2012). "Ardenna grisea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ↑ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 40, 54, 179. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  3. ↑ Austin, Jeremy J. (1996). "Molecular Phylogenetics of Puffinus Shearwaters: Preliminary Evidence from Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Gene Sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 6 (1): 77–88. doi:10.1006/mpev.1996.0060. PMID 8812308.
  4. ↑ Heidrich, Petra; Amengual, José F. & Wink, Michael (1998). "Phylogenetic relationships in Mediterranean and North Atlantic shearwaters (Aves: Procellariidae) based on nucleotide sequences of mtDNA" (PDF). Biochemical Systematics and Ecology. 26 (2): 145–170. doi:10.1016/S0305-1978(97)00085-9.
  5. ↑ Austin, Jeremy J.; Bretagnolle, Vincent & Pasquet, Eric (2004). "A global molecular phylogeny of the small Puffinus shearwaters and implications for systematics of the Little-Audubon's Shearwater complex". Auk. 121 (3): 847–864. doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2004)121[0847:AGMPOT]2.0.CO;2.
  6. ↑ Penhallurick, John & Wink, Michael (2004). "Analysis of the taxonomy and nomenclature of the Procellariiformes based on complete nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene". Emu. 104 (2): 125–147. doi:10.1071/MU01060.
  7. ↑ Rheindt, F. E. & Austin, Jeremy J. (2005). "Major analytical and conceptual shortcomings in a recent taxonomic revision of the Procellariiformes – A reply to Penhallurick and Wink (2004)". Emu. 105 (2): 181–186. doi:10.1071/MU04039.
  8. ↑ "Proposal (647) to South American Classification Committee: Spilt Ardenna from Puffinus". South American Classification Committee. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 McGonigal, David (2008). Antarctica: Secrets of the Southern Continent. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books. p. 220. ISBN 978-1-55407-398-6.
  10. 1 2 VanderWerf, Eric A. (2006). "Observations on the birds of Kwajalein Atoll, including six new species records for the Marshall Islands" (PDF). Micronesica. 38 (2): 221–237.
  11. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-10-03. Retrieved 2013-10-19.
  12. ↑ Thayer, John E. & Bangs, Outram (1908). "The Present State of the Ornis of Guadaloupe Island" (PDF). Condor. 10 (3): 101–106. doi:10.2307/1360977.
  13. 1 2 Shaffer, S.A.; Tremblay, Y.; Weimerskirch, H.; Scott, D.; Thompson, D.R.; Sagar, P.M.; Moller, H.; Taylor, G.A.; Foley, D.G.; Block, B.A. & Costa, D.P. (2006). "Migratory shearwaters integrate oceanic resources across the Pacific Ocean in an endless summer". PNAS. 103 (34): 12799–12802. doi:10.1073/pnas.0603715103. PMC 1568927Freely accessible. PMID 16908846. Supporting figures
  14. ↑ Live Science. "Hitchcock's Crazed Birds Blamed on Toxic Algae". Livescience.com. Retrieved on 2013-04-03.
  15. ↑ American Film Institute. Afi.com. Retrieved on 2013-04-03.
  16. ↑ Vergano, Dan. (2011-12-28) Detroit Free Press. "Mystery of incident that inspired Hitchcock's 'The Birds' solved?" December 28, 2011. Freep.com. Retrieved on 2013-04-03. Archived January 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  17. ↑ Kudela, R.; et al. (2005). "Harmful Algal Blooms in Coastal Upwelling Systems" (PDF). Oceonography. 18 (2): 184–197. doi:10.5670/oceanog.2005.53.

Further reading

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