Unusual foraging observations associated with seabird die-offs in Alaska

Abstract

We report the first documentation of off-water foraging by the Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel Oceanodroma furcata and Short-tailed Shearwater Ardenna tenuirostris, a behavior not previously documented in any member of the families Hydrobatidae or Procellariidae. Over a two-week period in September 2016, we regularly observed individuals of these species over land on an extensive intertidal zone on the Bristol Bay coast of the Alaska Peninsula. We documented irregular feeding behaviors by storm-petrels, including pattering over shallow water and sand, digging into sand to uncover food items, and feeding on beach-cast fish. We revisited the site in August 2017 and did not observe storm-petrels, but we observed four shearwaters feeding on a beach-cast fish. The aberrant feeding behaviors, paucity of stomach contents and emaciated body condition of salvaged and collected birds, together with patterns between bird occurrence and wind speed and direction, indicate to us that these birds were blown to shore while weakened by food stress or compromised health. We further suggest that these aberrant feeding behaviors may be related to massive seabird die-offs that occurred in this region during 2014–2016, die-offs in which Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels have heretofore not been reported as a species affected by this phenomenon.

Full text

Robinson et al.: Unusual foraging associated with seabird die-offs in Alaska 149
Marine Ornithology 46: 149–153 (2018)
INTRODUCTION
Of the multitude of ecosystems affected by global climate change,
marine environments are among those experiencing the most
profound and diverse disruptions (Hoegh-Guldberg & Bruno 2010,
Doney et al. 2012). For instance, climate change impacts resulting
in phenomena such as sea surface temperature anomalies (hereafter
SSTA) represent rapidly changing marine environments that include
cascading effects on food webs and animal behavior (Irons et al.
2008, Bost et al. 2015, Carroll et al. 2016).
Recent seabird mortality events highlight variation of food web
dynamics in marine systems. During 2014–2016, a large seabird
mortality event occurred in the North Pacific, affecting primarily
Common Murres Uria aalge, in which hundreds of thousands of
birds washed ashore from Alaska to California (Joling 2017, Gibble
et al. 2018, Piatt et al. 2018). Seabirds such as murres have off-shore
distributions during the nonbreeding season, and for food depend on
fish such as capelin Mallotus villosus, sand lance Ammodytes spp.,
and juvenile pollock Gadus spp. (Ainley et al. 2002). The emaciated
condition and empty stomachs of the dead beach-cast seabirds
(Joling 2017, Gibble et al. 2018), coupled with irruptive movements
of individuals to inland sites (Joling 2016), suggested a collapse
or redistribution of food stocks on which these seabirds depend,
ultimately leading to a mass starvation event (Piatt et al. 2018).
Substantial SSTA have previously been correlated with food web
disruptions of species such as Common Murres (Irons et al. 2008),
and the large mortality events during 2014–2016 are in accord with
SSTA in the region (Walsh et al. 2017, Piatt et al. 2018).
Like Common Murres, members of the family Procellariidae and
Hydrobatidae occupy coastal and pelagic waters during the non-
breeding season (c. October–March), and depend on surface or
subsurface prey. Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels Oceanodroma furcata
are common in the Bering Sea (Gabrielson & Lincoln 1959)
and the Gulf of Alaska (Harrison 1982, DeCicco et al. 2017),
and typically occur in coastal and off-shore waters from c. 40°N
latitude to the southern extent of the Bering Sea ice (Boersma &
Silva 2001). Two dark-plumaged shearwater species belonging to
the genus Ardenna (A. grisea, A. tenuirostris) also occur in these
waters. Although Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels use a variety of foraging
habitats, including inshore waters (e.g., Gill 1977, Baird et al. 1983,
Vermeer & Sealy 1984) and just beyond the surf zone during stormy
conditions (Boersma & Silva 2001), and Ardenna shearwaters
regularly forage in inshore waters (Carboneras et al. 2018a, 2018b),
we could find no mention in the literature of off-water feeding
for any Procellariiform. Herein, we document unusual land-based
foraging behaviors by Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels and Short-tailed
Shearwaters. We suggest that these behaviors were driven by food
stress that may be related to SSTA and seabird die-offs in the region
during 2015–2016 (Walsh et al. 2017, Piatt et al. 2018).
STUDY AREA AND METHODS
Our study site (58°16′43.09″N, 157°32′27.88″W) is located c.1km
south of the mouth of Big Creek on Bristol Bay, Alaska Peninsula,
approximately 12 km north of the village of Egegik, Alaska.
The shoreline habitat at this site is dominated by sandy beaches
bordered by dunes with extensive cover of beach wild-rye Elymus
UNUSUAL FORAGING OBSERVATIONS ASSOCIATED
WITH SEABIRD DIE-OFFS IN ALASKA
BRYCE W. ROBINSON1,2, LUCAS H. DECICCO1,3, JAMES A. JOHNSON1 & DANIEL R. RUTHRAUFF4
1U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Migratory Bird Management, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK 99503 USA (bryce@ornithologi.com)
2Ornithologi, 615 E. Krall St., Boise, ID 83712 USA
3Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045 USA
4U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, 4210 University Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508 USA
Received 18 May 2018, accepted 20 July 2018
ABSTRACT
ROBINSON, B. W., DECICCO, L. H., JOHNSON, J. A., & RUTHRAUFF, D. R. 2018. Unusual foraging observations associated with
seabird die-offs in Alaska. Marine Ornithology 46: 149-153.
We report the first documentation of off-water foraging by the Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel Oceanodroma furcata and Short-tailed Shearwater
Ardenna tenuirostris, a behavior not previously documented in any member of the families Hydrobatidae or Procellariidae. Over a two-week
period in September 2016, we regularly observed individuals of these species over land on an extensive intertidal zone on the Bristol Bay
coast of the Alaska Peninsula. We documented irregular feeding behaviors by storm-petrels, including pattering over shallow water and
sand, digging into sand to uncover food items, and feeding on beach-cast fish. We revisited the site in August 2017 and did not observe
storm-petrels, but we observed four shearwaters feeding on a beach-cast fish. The aberrant feeding behaviors, paucity of stomach contents
and emaciated body condition of salvaged and collected birds, together with patterns between bird occurrence and wind speed and direction,
indicate to us that these birds were blown to shore while weakened by food stress or compromised health. We further suggest that these
aberrant feeding behaviors may be related to massive seabird die-offs that occurred in this region during 2014–2016, die-offs in which Fork-
tailed Storm-Petrels have heretofore not been reported as a species affected by this phenomenon.
Key Words: Alaska, seabird die-offs, sea surface temperature anomaly, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma furcata, Short-tailed
Shearwater, Ardenna tenuirostris, off-water foraging
149

150 Robinson et al.: Unusual foraging associated with seabird die-offs in Alaska
Marine Ornithology 46: 149–153 (2018)
mollis. Daily tidal fluctuations expose a 3km wide by 10km long
sandy intertidal zone. This sandflat provides a foraging site for
thousands of staging waterbirds (primarily shorebirds) during fall
migration. Our observations occurred along this sandflat during
15–28 September 2016 (14 d) and 18–26 August 2017 (9 d).
We recorded the daily abundance of Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels and
shearwaters (Ardenna spp.; although two species may have been
present, all birds that we identified to the species level were Short-
tailed A. tenuirostris) present both nearshore and on the intertidal
zone (all observations are available in eBird: www.ebird.org).
Because our daily field time varied, we estimated daily abundance
corrected by effort. To do this, we divided the total field hours
for each day by the average daily field hours for the entire time
spent at the study site in each year, and multiplied this value by
the number of birds seen for that day (Fig.1). As part of specimen
collection and salvage efforts unassociated with these observations,
we salvaged four beach-cast storm-petrels and collected two others
observed foraging over intertidal sites, and assessed the body
condition and stomach contents of these birds to provide potential
insights into the foraging behaviors observed. To investigate
the possible influence of weather on the occurrence of birds at
our study site, we extracted 12 hr composite mean vector wind
speed and direction from the National Centers for Environmental
Prediction (NCEP) North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR)
daily datasets (data and images provided by the NOAA/ESRL
Physical Science Division, Boulder Colorado from their website
at www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/), following Mesinger et al. (2006). We
extracted wind vector graphics as a 12 hr composite mean of wind
speed and direction, ranging from 06h00–18h00 for the day prior
and the day of high storm-petrel and shearwater numbers in 2016,
and shearwaters in 2017 (Fig. 2). To investigate the influence of
sea surface temperature anomalies in Bristol Bay, we extracted Sea
Surface Temperature Anomaly (SSTA) data (Reynolds et al. 2007)
from the Operational SSTA Charts (NOAA High Resolution SST
data provided by the NOAA/OAR/ESRL PSD, Boulder, Colorado,
USA, from their website at www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/) for the dates
we were present at our study site in 2016 and 2017 using the full
global map selection.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In September 2016, we regularly observed Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels
feeding off-water in the intertidal zone during low tide. We observed
two foraging patterns: 1) pattering on tidal pools and sand to capture
items, including inserting the bill into the sand and probing for food
items; and 2) stationary feeding on fish carcasses, including salmon
Salmonidae sp. and flatfish Pleuronectidae sp. (Fig.3). Although
we did not observe Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels during a 9-d period
in August 2017, we did observe four Short-tailed Shearwaters
feeding off-water on a beach-cast salmon (Fig.3). Taken together,
these observations constitute the first documentation of both Fork-
tailed Storm-Petrel and Short-tailed Shearwater feeding on dead,
beach-cast fish. Birds observed feeding on fish carcasses most often
quartered into the wind while pattering during their approach until
they reached the carcass, with their wings spread to keep them aloft
in the wind as they fed.
Intertidal foraging among hydrobatids has elsewhere been
addressed in the literature. Our observations of Fork-tailed Storm-
Petrels feeding on beach-cast fish complement the report of
one individual feeding on a beach-cast gray whale Eschrichtius
robustus carcass, also on the Alaska Peninsula in September 1976
(Gill 1977). Thomas et al. (2006) identified isopod Eurydice spp.
in the regurgitated stomach contents of European Storm-Petrel
Hydrobates pelagicus, prey that can occur in the intertidal zone
in the water column. Thus, these observations were supportive of
intertidal foraging but not off-water foraging. Additionally, Thomas
et al. (2006) specifically discussed this evidence as indicative of
the birds’ foraging strategy, explicitly discounting digging through
the sand for food items as an explanation for their findings. This is
contrary to our observations, where storm-petrels regularly dug into
the sand with their bill, another behavior that to our knowledge has
not been documented in the literature.
The body condition and stomach contents of collected and salvaged
beach-cast birds further indicate that these behaviors were the
result of food stress and are likely aberrant. Beach-cast birds were
emaciated and lacked fat stores, and we were unable to identify any
food items in the stomach contents of the collected birds, finding
only parasitic worms, Elymus seeds, and a twig.
Based on patterns in our observations, we suggest that storm-petrel
and shearwater presence in the intertidal zone at our study site was
influenced by strong, onshore winds over pelagic waters that likely
pushed both live and dead birds towards our study site, increasing
their detectability. We observed peaks in storm-petrel numbers in
2016 on 17, 22 and 28 September (40–100 birds/d), and noted
<10individuals on all other days (Fig.1). On days prior to peaks
in storm-petrel numbers, wind speed at the study location was low
(max speed ≤4m/s) and wind direction was not directed onshore.
On days of storm-petrel influx, strong (10–16m/s) onshore winds
Fig. 1. Abundance of Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel and dark Ardenna
spp. shearwaters, corrected by daily effort, observed at the mouth
of Big Creek, on the Bristol Bay coast of the Alaska Peninsula over
a 14-d period in September 2016 and a 9-d period in August 2017.

Robinson et al.: Unusual foraging associated with seabird die-offs in Alaska 151
Marine Ornithology 46: 149–153 (2018)
Fig. 2. Vector wind speed graphics (m/s) illustrating the pattern between directional wind speed and days of high storm-petrel and shearwater
counts at our study site on the Bristol Bay coast, Alaska Peninsula, in September 2016 and August 2017. Days of influx have the general
pattern of directional, high west/northwest winds blowing from pelagic waters towards the study site. Days prior show areas of low pressure
over the study site, and directionless, offshore, or latitudinal winds.

152 Robinson et al.: Unusual foraging associated with seabird die-offs in Alaska
Marine Ornithology 46: 149–153 (2018)
occurred at our study location (Fig.2). During all three observed
peaks in bird numbers, wind vector data illustrate a directional high
wind over pelagic waters. These patterns also were present on days
of high shearwater numbers in 2017 (Fig.2).
Recent documentation of aberrant onshore feeding behaviors for
otherwise strict on-water foragers (e.g. Eared Grebe Podiceps
nigricollis; Wilcox 2018) suggests that these behaviors may occur
as a foraging strategy in healthy birds, but have yet to be reported
in the literature. However, we suggest that the unusual intertidal
foraging behaviors that we observed for both Fork-tailed Storm-
Petrel and Short-tailed Shearwater were indicative of food stress.
SSTA in the North Pacific during 2014–2016 were in accord
with negatively impacted oceanic food webs that culminated in
massive seabird die offs in which tens of thousands of seabirds
washed ashore across coastal Alaska alone (Walsh et al. 2017).
Given the body condition of the birds that we observed, and that
SSTA for waters in Bristol Bay at our study site were positive
(x¯=3.83±0.46°C for 14d in 2016, and 1.22±0.25°C for 9d
in 2017) in both years, we suggest that the abnormal foraging
behaviors were related to the massive seabird die-off events during
2014–2016 and represent the first documentation of Fork-tailed
Storm-Petrel being implicated in these die-off events.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank Stuart Fetty, Andy Johnson, Laura McDuffie, Zak Pohlen,
Gerrit Vyn, and Jamie Welfelt for their assistance in the field. We
are indebted to the Ranney family for letting us stay in their cabin.
Melissa Cady helped organize field logistics. Our presence at Big
Creek was supported by a joint effort between USGS and the US
Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Specimens, deposited at the
University of Alaska Museum, were obtained under USFWS permit
number 789758. The findings and conclusions in this article are
those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views
of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Any use of trade, firm, or
product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply
endorsement by the U.S. Government. An anonymous reviewer
provided comments that improved our presentation.
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