HI:
Here's how to find an "extinct" species!

--

Ian Paulsen
Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
A.K.A.: "Birdbooker"
"Rallidae all the way!"

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2006 08:53:37 -0000
From: Tony Pym <tony_pym at hotmail.com>
To: Seabirds <seabird at lists.uct.ac.za>
Subject: [SEABIRD] New Zealand Storm-petrel - transmitters fitted to three
birds

A FURTHER THREE BIRDS CAPTURED AND TRANSMITTERS HAVE NOW BEEN FITTED.

Below, the FULL story from Brent Stephenson in New Zealand:

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Still trembling from excitement I thought I would inform everyone of the latest developments in the world of New Zealand Storm-petrel research! Many of you will be familiar with the story of rediscovery of the supposedly extinct New Zealand Storm-petrel - tentatively called Oceanites maorianus. It started with the sighting of a bird off the Coromandel Peninsula, on the North Island of New Zealand, by Sav Saville and myself on 25 January 2003. Photos I managed to snap of the bird showed a storm-petrel that did not resemble any extant taxa, and it became evident that perhaps it could be a New Zealand Storm-petrel, presumed extinct for over 150 years and only known from three Museum specimens collected in the 1800s. A subsequent sighting of similar birds in the Hauraki Gulf by Bob Flood and Bryan Thomas in November 2003 resolved the matter, although official acceptance of these records by the Ornithological Society of New Zealand is yet to be gained, but will be made a lot !
easier by the last weeks events.

On 4 November 2005 a New Zealand Storm-petrel flew into the cabin of a boat anchored just off Little Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf. Being the first bird handled since its rediscovery, this bird was banded, measured, photographed, and then released. Several feathers and a louse were also collected. Tony Pym and others were lucky enough to be on the trip during this work.

A catching trip aboard a boat in the Hauraki Gulf had already been planned for the first week of January, but a terrible week weather-wise restricted our departure until Thursday 5 Jan. Six of us, Richard Griffiths (DoC), Halema Jamieson (DoC), Avi (local Maori representative), Rohan Clarke (Aus), myself and Brett Rathe (skipper) headed out early on Thursday morning.

We headed to a point that Brett expected to find the birds based on the prevailing conditions, and after 45 min or so had not seen one, so motored a short way towards the Hen and Chicken Islands. At the second chumming location we struck gold and had up to 3 birds around the boat at once. Over the next few hours we tried and tried to catch one, until we finally managed to get a bird onboard at 1430 hours! We used a large hand-net and a hoop-net, but due to the speed these birds move and the sea and wind conditions these were not successful. We were eventually successful with a modified throw-net. It was pretty fantastic to finally have one in the hand - something I'd dreamt about!

We banded, measured, and photographed the bird, and fitted it with a small transmitter attached to the tail. Several lice were collected from the bird, and a small blood sample taken for molecular analysis (Dr Bruce Robertson at Canterbury University in New Zealand is currently conducting the molecular analysis - if anyone has samples from other storm-petrels we would be interested in hearing from you). Upon releasing the bird it flew strongly and headed off to the east. Another few tantalising hours were spent trying to catch birds around the boat, but they all evaded attempts.

The following morning we tried again to catch another bird, and at 1240 we were again successful. This bird was similarly processed and released with a transmitter. It also flew strongly, into the 25 knot wind, and with a rising 2 metre sea we decided to call it quits mid-afternoon.

The transmitters attached weigh just over 1 gram, and measure approximately 12 x 6 x 6 mm (excluding aerial). We made a guess that the birds would be approximately 30 grams (now known to be correct), and figured that a transmitter 3% of the body weight should not hinder the bird (standard is about 3% of body weight). What also made me feel more confident about the size of the transmitter versus the bird was the fact that female storm-petrels lay the largest egg relative to body size of any bird (often kiwi are quoted as such in NZ but that is incorrect). Therefore, a female storm-petrel weighing 30 grams, may actually carry an egg roughly 23-24% of her body weight, or 7.2 grams - makes carrying a 1 gram transmitter seem easy. We attached the transmitter to the base of the top two central tail feathers, using duct tape. This reduces attachment time (compared to glue and thread) and works well on larger petrels (such as Taiko and Grey-faced petrels) for 3 months or more. !
When the bird moults, the feathers and transmitter will drop-out, and it also seems a less likely attachment method to tangle or get caught (versus glue to skin or a harness).

A day later, a slightly different crew headed out on 8 Jan and spent the next day and a half attempting to capture more birds. With very rough conditions on the second day we were again successful and were able to process and fit a transmitter to a further bird. With three birds in 3 ? days we had surpassed all expectations.

On the 11 Jan Richard Griffiths and myself spent much of the night flying over the Hauraki Gulf in an aircraft equipped with radio tracking gear, paying special attention to islands we suspect could hold the breeding colony, which is as yet unknown. Unfortunately, no signals were detected, but with the transmitters being so small we expect the range to be fairly restricted, even from air. We have another night of tracking planned tonight (12 Jan), and will reassess the situation after that.

Photos and more information will be on our websites in a week or so, and there is already information on the rediscovery and subsequent sightings at these sites. Go to www.eco-vista.com or www.wrybill-tours.com

Regards and a seabird filled 2006 to everyone!
Brent

Dr Brent Stephenson
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