bristol bay / n. aleutian basin -- seabirds & shorebirds presented by kathy kuletz, u.s. fish...
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Bristol Bay / N. Aleutian Basin -- Seabirds & Shorebirds
Dave Irons
Bob Gill
Presented by Kathy Kuletz, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Anchorage, Alaska
Contributors include (but not limited to)
Rick LanctotBob GillShawn StephensenLiz LabunskiRob SuryanGary Drew Russ Oates
USGS-BRD
Migratory Bird Management (USFWS)
Alaska Maritime Refuge
SHOREBIRDS
-Up to 1/3 of the world population of Bar-tailed Godwits use Egegik Bay in fall
-The only nesting area for a subspecies of Marbled Godwit is found in the Bristol Bay Lowlands
>300,000 shorebirds, primarily Dunlin, were counted during aerial surveys of Alaska Peninsula estuaries in 1999
MIGRATION CORRIDOR AND FILLING STATIONFOR SHOREBIRDS
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network sites in Alaska
Hemispheric(500,000 birds or 30% of a population)
International(100,000 birds or 10% of a population)
Gill et al. unpubl.
>20,000
>100,000
>500,000
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network
Breeding
Wintering
Spring/Fall Staging
Bar-tailed GodwitDunlin
Paul Suchanek
Staging Range of Alaska’s Godwits Overlap
Alaska Canada
Bar-tailed Godwit
Hudsonian and Bar-tailed Godwit
Hudsonian Godwit
Marbled and Bar-tailed Godwit
All three Godwit species
30 Colonies within Lease Area with over 60,000 breeding seabirds
44 Colonies between Lease Area and Cape Newenham with over 900,000 breeding seabirds
Predominantly Common Murre and Black-legged Kittiwakes
Dave Irons
SEABIRD COLONIES
Selected colonies are monitored annually or every few years. Others are censused opportunistically
Population Trends
Breeding Chronology
Diet
Productivity
Seabird Colonies - Regional comparisons (2003 sites)
Seabird colony catalogue Maintained by USFWS
Most abundant:
storm-petrels
kittiwakes
murres
puffins
gulls
26 seabird species
Some of the most abundant breeding birds
Common murres
Tufted puffins
Many of ‘our’ seabirds don’t breed here – they just come to feed in the summer
Albatrosses from Hawaii and Japan
Shearwaters from New Zealand and S. America
Albatross wander into the Bristol Bay area, and particularly like the Aleutian passes for feeding.
Short-tailed albatross
Endangered Species
Laysan albatross
Photo: Paul Suchanek
Movements of Short-tailed Albatross
Tracked with satellite telemetry, 2003 & 2006 (R. Suryan and others)
Proportion of total time, by 5 degree blocks
Short-tailed shearwaters, Unimak Pass, December 2005
Including endangered species like Short-tailed albatross and other species of concern.
Unimak Pass, & other Aleutian passes, attract millions of birdsUnimak Pass, & other Aleutian passes, attract millions of birds
Photo: Kevin Bell
Counting birds at sea – ship board surveys on ships of opportunity
Data in N. Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database (NPPSD)
Most transects (entered) are from OCSEAP, 1974 – 1984.
Transect coverage in the NPPSD
Fall
SummerSpring
Winter
NPPSD Transect Coverage
In N. Aleutian Basin Area
Abundant visitor in summer
Rare endemic breeding on the Pribilof Islands
2006 – N. Pacific Research Board funded USFWS to conduct at-sea seabird surveys, to update NPPSD
Cooperative researchers - NOAA, AMNWR, Healy, GLOBEC
Funded through 2007 season; USFWS will seek funding to continue
Commonly observed at sea:
Shearwater species
Puffins & Auklets
2006 cruises
2006 cruises
Species of concern –
Loons (4 species observed)
Murrelets (3 species, including Kittlitz’s murrelet)
Thanks to:
Photo credits:
Lisa Sheffield
Paul Suchanek
Ian Jones
Tamara Mills
Liz Labunski
Kathy Kuletz
USFWS archives
Rick Lanctot
Bob Gill
Rob Suryan
Shawn Stephensen
Liz Labunski
Gary Drew
Russ Oates