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