Hostname: page-component-546b4f848f-w58md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2023-05-30T21:12:27.526Z Has data issue: false Feature Flags: { "useRatesEcommerce": true } hasContentIssue false
  • English

Effects of mouse predation on burrowing petrel chicks at Gough Island

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2015

Ben J. Dilley ,
Delia Davies ,
Alexander L. Bond  and
Peter G. Ryan
Ben J. Dilley*
Affiliation:
Percy FitzPatrick Institute of Africa Ornithology, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
Delia Davies
Affiliation:
Percy FitzPatrick Institute of Africa Ornithology, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
Alexander L. Bond
Affiliation:
RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Lodge, Sandy SG19 2DL, UK
Peter G. Ryan
Affiliation:
Percy FitzPatrick Institute of Africa Ornithology, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
*
dilleyben@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions[Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Since 2004 there has been mounting evidence of the severe impact of introduced house mice (Mus musculus L.) killing chicks of burrow-nesting petrels at Gough Island. We monitored seven species of burrow-nesting petrels in 2014 using a combination of infra-red video cameras augmented by burrowscope nest inspections. All seven camera-monitored Atlantic petrel (Pterodroma incerta Schlegel) chicks were killed by mice within hours of hatching (average 7.2±4.0 hours) with an 87% chick failure rate (n=83 hatchlings). Several grey petrel (Procellaria cinerea Gmelin) chicks were found with mouse wounds and 60% of chicks failed (n=35 hatchlings). Video surveillance revealed one (of seven nests filmed) fatal attack on a great shearwater (Puffinus gravis O’Reilly) chick and two (of nine) on soft-plumaged petrel (Pterodroma mollis Gould) chicks. Mice killed the chicks of the recently discovered summer-breeding MacGillivray’s prion (Pachyptila macgillivrayi Mathews), with a chick mortality rate of 82% in 2013/14 and 100% in 2014/15. The closely-related broad-billed prion (P. vittata Forster) breeds in late winter and also had a chick mortality rate of 100% in 2014. The results provide further evidence of the dire situation for seabirds nesting on Gough Island and the urgent need for mouse eradication.

Keywords

burrow camerasintroduced mammalsislandsmouse eradicationMus musculusvideo recording
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 27 , Supplement 6 , December 2015 , pp. 543 - 553
Check for updates
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ancel, A., Petter, L. & Groscolas, R. 1998. Changes in egg and body temperature indicate triggering of egg desertion at a body mass threshold in fasting incubating blue petrels (Halobaena caerulea). Journal of Comparative Physiology - Biochemical Systemic and Environmental Physiology, 168B, 533–539.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bates, D., Machler, M., Bolker, B. & Walker, S. 2014. Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. 51 pp, including R code and an appendix. Available at: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1406.5823v1.pdf.Google Scholar
Boersma, P.D. & Wheelwright, N.T. 1979. Egg neglect in the Procellariiformes: reproductive adaptations in the fork-tailed storm-petrel. Condor, 81, 157–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Booth, A.M., Minot, E.O., Imber, M.J. & Fordham, R.A. 2000. Aspects of the breeding ecology of the North Island little shearwater Puffinus assimilis haurakiensis . New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 27, 335–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooke, M. 2004. Albatrosses and petrels across the world. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 520 pp.Google Scholar
Brooke, M. de L., O’Connell, T.C., Wingate, D., Madeiros, J., Hilton, G.M. & Ratcliffe, N. 2010. Potential for rat predation to cause decline of the globally threatened Henderson petrel Pterodroma atrata: evidence from the field, stable isotopes and population modelling. Endangered Species Research, 11, 47–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broome, K.G. & Garden, P. 2013. Draft project plan for the eradication of mice from Gough Island, Tristan da Cunha. Unpublished report. Sandy: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.Google Scholar
Buxton, R.T., Jones, C., Moller, H. & Towns, D.R. 2014. Drivers of seabird population recovery on New Zealand islands after predator eradication. Conservation Biology, 28, 333–344.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campos, A.R & Granadeiro, J.P. 1999. Breeding biology of the white-faced storm-petrel on Selvagem Grande Island, north-east Atlantic. Waterbirds, 22, 199–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Croxall, J.P., Butchart, S.H.M., Lascelles, B., Stattersfield, A.J., Sullivan, B., Symes, A. & Taylor, P. 2012. Seabird conservation status, threats and priority actions: a global assessment. Bird Conservation International, 22, 1–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cuthbert, R. 2004. Breeding biology of the Atlantic petrel, Pterodroma incerta, and a population estimate of this and other burrowing petrels on Gough Island, south Atlantic Ocean. Emu, 104, 221–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cuthbert, R.J. 2006. Breeding biology, chick growth and provisioning of great shearwaters (Puffinus gravis) at Gough Island, south Atlantic Ocean. Emu, 105, 305–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cuthbert, R. & Hilton, G. 2004. Introduced house mice Mus musculus: a significant predator of threatened and endemic birds on Gough Island, south Atlantic Ocean? Biological Conservation, 117, 483–489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cuthbert, R.J., Louw, H., Parker, G., Rexer-Huber, K. & Visser, P. 2013a. Observations of mice predation on dark-mantled sooty albatross and Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross chicks at Gough Island. Antarctic Science, 25, 763–766.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cuthbert, R.J., Louw, H., Lurling, J., Parker, G., Rexer-Huber, K., Sommer, E., Visser, P. & Ryan, P.G. 2013b. Low burrow occupancy and breeding success of burrowing petrels at Gough Island: a consequence of mouse predation. Bird Conservation International, 23, 113–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, D., Dilley, B.J., Bond, A.L., Cuthbert, R.J. & Ryan, P.G. 2015. Trends and tactics of mouse predation on Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena chicks at Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean. Avian Conservation and Ecology, 10, 10.5751/ACE-00738-100105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawson, J., Oppel, S., Cuthbert, R.J., Holmes, N., Bird, J.P., Butchart, S.H.M., Spatz, D.R. & Tershy, B. 2015. Prioritizing islands for the eradication of invasive vertebrates in the United Kingdom overseas territories. Conservation Biology, 29, 143–153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elliott, H.F. 1953. The fauna of Tristan da Cunha. Oryx, 2, 41–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fugler, S.R., Hunter, S., Newton, I.P. & Steele, W.K. 1987. Breeding biology of blue petrels Halobaena caerulea at the Prince Edward Islands. Emu, 87, 103–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, M.M., Wegmann, D., Haasl, R.J., White, M.A., Gabriel, S.I., Searle, J.B., Cuthbert, R.J., Ryan, P.G. & Payseur, B.A. 2014. Demographic history of a recent invasion of house mice on the isolated Island of Gough. Molecular Ecology, 23, 1923–1939.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howald, G., Donlan, C.J., Galvan, J.P., Russell, J.C., Parkes, J., Samaniego, A., Wang, Y.W., Veitch, D., Genovesi, P., Pascal, M., Saunders, A. & Tershy, B. 2007. Invasive rodent eradication on islands. Conservation Biology, 21, 1258–1268.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoyt, D.F. 1979. Practical methods of estimating volume and fresh weight of bird eggs. Auk, 96, 73–77.Google Scholar
Jones, H.P., Tershy, B.R., Zavaleta, E.S., Croll, D.A., Keitt, B.S., Finkelstein, M.E. & Howald, G.R. 2008. Severity of the effects of invasive rats on seabirds: a global review. Conservation Biology, 22, 16–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Le Corre, M. 2008. Conservation biology: cats, rats and seabirds. Nature, 451, 134–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liddle, G.M. 1994. Interannual variation in the breeding biology of the Antarctic prion Pachyptila desolata at Bird Island, South Georgia. Journal of Zoology, 234, 125–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Major, H.L., Bond, A.L., Jones, I.L. & Eggleston, C.J. 2013. Stability of a seabird population in the presence of an introduced predator. Avian Conservation and Ecology, 8, 10.5751/ACE-00564-080102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nel, D.C., Taylor, F., Ryan, P.G. & Cooper, J. 2003. Population dynamics of the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans at Marion Island: longline fishing and environmental influences. African Journal of Marine Science, 25, 503–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Payne, M.R. & Prince, P.A. 1979. Identification and breeding biology of the diving petrels Pelecanoides georgicus and Pelecanoides urinatrix exsul at South Georgia. New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 6, 299–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quillfeldt, P. & Peter, H.U. 2000. Provisioning and growth in chicks of Wilson’s storm-petrels (Oceanites oceanicus) on King George Island, South Shetland Islands. Polar Biology, 23, 817–824.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quillfeldt, P., Schenk, I., McGill, R.A.R., Strange, I.J., Masello, J.F., Gladbach, A., Roesch, V. & Furness, R.W. 2008. Introduced mammals coexist with seabirds at New Island, Falkland Islands: abundance, habitat preferences and stable isotope analysis of diet. Polar Biology, 31, 333–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
R Core Team . 2014. R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Version 3.1.2. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing.Google ScholarPubMed
Rexer-Huber, K., Parker, G.C., Ryan, P.G. & Cuthbert, R.J. 2014. Burrow occupancy and population size in the Atlantic petrel Pterodroma incerta: a comparison of methods. Marine Ornithology, 42, 137–141.Google Scholar
Ryan, P.G., ed. 2007. Field guide to the animals and plants of Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island. Newbury: Pisces Publications, 168 pp.Google Scholar
Ryan, P.G. & Moloney, C.L. 2002. Breeding behaviour, clutch size and egg dimensions of Nesospiza buntings at Inaccessible Island, Tristan da Cunha. Ostrich, 73, 52–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, P.G., Bourgeois, K., Dromzée, S. & Dilley, B.J. 2014. The occurrence of two bill morphs of prions Pachyptila vittata on Gough Island. Polar Biology, 37, 727–735.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, P.G., Dilley, B.J., Jones, C. & Bond, A.L. 2015. Blue petrels Halobaena caerulea breeding on Gough Island. Ostrich, 86, 10.2989/00306525.2015.1005558.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schramm, M. 1983. The breeding biologies of the petrels Pterodroma macroptera, Pterodroma brevirostis and Pterodroma mollis at Marion Island. Emu, 83, 75–81.Google Scholar
Swales, M.K. 1965. The seabirds of Gough Island. Ibis, 107, 17–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tickell, W.L.N. 2000. Albatrosses. Sussex: Pica Press, 448 pp.Google Scholar
Wanless, R.M. 2007. Impacts of the introduced house mice on the seabirds of Gough Island. PhD thesis, University of Cape Town, 225 pp. [Unpublished].Google Scholar
Wanless, R.M., Ryan, P.G., Altwegg, R., Angel, A., Cooper, J., Cuthbert, R. & Hilton, G.M. 2009. From both sides: dire demographic consequences of carnivorous mice and longlining for the Critically Endangered Tristan albatrosses on Gough Island. Biological Conservation, 142, 1710–1718.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wanless, R.M., Ratcliffe, N., Angel, A., Bowie, B.C., Cita, K., Hilton, G.M., Kritzinger, P., Ryan, P.G. & Slabber, M. 2012. Predation of Atlantic petrel chicks by house mice on Gough Island. Animal Conservation, 15, 472–479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warham, J. 1990. The petrels – their ecology and breeding systems. London: Academic Press, 452 pp.Google Scholar
Weimerskirch, H. 1992. Reproductive effort in long-lived birds: age-specific patterns of condition, reproduction and survival in the wandering albatross. Oikos, 64, 464–473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Worthy, T.H. & Jouventin, P. 1999. The fossil avifauna of Amsterdam Island, Indian Ocean. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology, 89, 39–65.Google Scholar

Dilley supplementary material

Dilley supplementary material 1

Download Dilley supplementary material(Video)
Video 22 MB