It’s another goodbye blog from us today; this time to our
Atlantic Petrels. One of the jobs we’ve been working on recently has been to revisit our
Atlantic Petrel study burrows to count the number of chicks who have made it to
fledging age. This gives us an idea of how successful the breeding season has
been. We can compare this to data from previous years to see what is happening
in the long term.
 |
| Hunting for Atlantic Petrel burrows (David Kinchin-Smith) |
 |
| Atlantic Petrel burrows are big; one of the signs we look out for (David Kinchin-Smith) |
Atlantic Petrels are one of the more mysterious of the birds on Gough, and are also one of the most threatened. They nest underground in large burrows, only returning to the island under cover of darkness. There are many unanswered questions about how these birds live, and how we can protect them. They are endemic to the Tristan island chain, with the overwhelming majority breeding on Gough (around 1.8 million pairs). They are also Critically Endangered. This is mostly because mice predate a large proportion of chicks before they are old enough to fend for themselves. Sadly, very few will ever grow old enough to leave the island and fly out to the Ocean that they are named for. Because such a large proportion are reliant on Gough the threat our mice pose to the species cannot be underestimated. If our population was to disappear, it is likely that Atlantic Petrels would become extinct.
 |
| An adult Atlantic Petrel (David Kinchin-Smith) |
Atlantic Petrels return to the island around March, and lay
one egg towards the end of June, often in the same burrow that they used in
previous years. The chicks hatch in August and will not fledge for 135 days, an
extraordinarily long time for this size bird.
 |
| An Atlantic Petrel chick (Em Witcutt) |
More soon on another of our burrow nesters; the
Soft-Plumaged Petrel. In the meantime, have a very merry Christmas!
Em
No comments:
Post a Comment