Machias Seal Island
Long-Term Seabird Research and Monitoring
University of New Brunswick


Methods


CWS Research Guidelines

Capture and Banding of Seabirds

Productivity and Growth

Resighting Banded Birds

Diet Study

Environmental Conditions

Additional Observations

Literature Cited





All research on MSI is subject to the following guidelines (CWS 1994):

• Research must not interfere with normal activities of the island (including operation of the lighthouse), or visitors who may be present;
• Research within the tern colony must be conducted only under good weather conditions i.e. (once the tern chicks have hatched) warm temperatures (≥ 110C) and dry vegetation;
• All research activity must relate to the needs for management or monitoring of seabirds or provide a clear improvement to our present understanding.

The scientific permit to conduct research at MSI is obtained from the Canadian Wildlife Service in Sackville while bird-banding permits are obtained from the Canadian Wildlife Service in Ottawa under principal investigator, Dr. Antony Diamond’s, master permit.  Animal care permits are obtained through the University of New Brunswick’s animal care committee. Potential environmental impacts are addressed in Diamond and Paquet (1998).

Details on how tern data are collected can be found in preceding island progress reports (see Bond et al. 2007).  In-depth descriptions of methods can be found in the Machias Seal Island Logistics and Guide to Seabird Monitoring protocols.


Capture and Banding of Seabirds

Because seabirds are characteristically ‘k-selected’ with a high annual adult survival and low productivity, long-term population trends are more sensitive to survival than productivity.  Thus researchers on MSI place a very high priority on banding and re-sighting as many birds as possible.  Adult survival-tracking programs such as MARK, for example, require a sample of at least 200 breeding adults of each species be maintained at any given time.

Adult alcids are captured with drop-box traps in the first half of the season, and by burrow grubbing in the later half of the season. Six wooden drop-boxes equipped with a swiveling lid are left in the colony from May to August. When the swiveling lids are unlocked, birds using the boxes as landing areas, lookouts, or take-off points fall into the trap and are removed by researchers within a maximum of 30 minutes. Birds removed from their burrows by grubbing are restrained within the burrow then removed by the researcher’s hands. All birds awaiting processing are held in cloth bird bags.

Many fledgling puffins and adult petrels are captured by pursuit on the lawn by the lighthouse. Flashlights are used to dazzle the birds allowing the field crew to approach and seize each individual.

Researchers attempt to band every bird they can catch on the island. All captured birds receive a Bird Banding Lab (BBL) band. Puffins and Terns also receive thrice-repeated incoloy field-readable bands on their second leg.

Results: Banding

Productivity and Growth

Researchers use monitored puffin burrows and razorbill nests to estimate productivity and growth rates for the colonies. Several puffin burrows are retired each year because they are too deep to access. Several razorbill burrows are also occasionally omitted because they cannot be located, or because the occasional proximity of neighbouring eggs make identification of monitored chicks impossible.

Alcid nests are checked a maximum of three times at the start of the season. Each nest is grubbed (use arm to reach into burrow) to check for the presence or absence of eggs and adults. Nests without eggs are scheduled for a second check a week later. If the nest still does not contain an egg on the second check, a third check, a week later, is scheduled. If three times a nest is found without an egg, it is deemed inactive.

The date each nest was found with an egg is recorded and from there predicted hatch dates are calculated (with incubation lasting approximately 40 days for puffins and 35 for razorbills (Harris and Birkhead 1985, Harris and Wanless 1989)). Nests are checked every few days around the predicted hatch date until the chick hatches. Every new chick encountered is measured for head-bill, culmen, wingchord, and mass. Chicks of known age are measured a second time within the first five days after hatch. Known-age chick wing chords are then used to calculate ages of unknown age chicks. Once all chicks are aged, they are scheduled to be measured twice within their linear growth period (day 10-30 for puffins and day 5-15 for razorbills). Eggs that remain unhatched for three successive weeks after the predicted hatch date are assumed dead. Puffin chicks are banded on day 35 (or once the band will stay on the leg) while razorbills are banded during their second linear growth measurement as they become increasingly difficult to catch as they approach 15 days.

Results: Productivity 2009


Resighting Banded Birds

Resighting effort is distributed among various blinds around the colony (see Blind location figure and Blind use table).  Researchers rotate among the different blinds throughout the week.  There are 11 plywood blinds. The four visitor blinds and tern blind are permanent, whereas the remaining 6 blinds are assembled at the beginning of each season and deconstructed prior to leaving the island.  There are also 3 specific locations on the island where a hunting blind in erected for the duration of the band reading (or feeding watch) stint.


Location of research blinds used on Machias Seal Island.

Research blinds on Machias Seal Island and their use for feeding or
productivity and growth observations from 1995-2010. X indicates past uses and
* indicates use in 2010. All blinds were used for band reading of all species.
Windpole was retired in 2002 and dismantled in 2007. Seabreeze was retired and
dismantled in 2007.

Band-reading stints are two hours in duration and are not species specific. Researchers attempt to read bands from all species in the vicinity of the blind.

Diet Study

Feeding watches are conducted from six blinds with designated plot areas. Visitor Blind 1, Visitor Blind 3 and Goofapuff Blind are used for puffin feeding watches whereas razorbills are monitored from Portable Blinds 1, 2 and 3 (see Blind location figure and Blind use table).  The boundaries of the plots are marked by blue dots spray-painted on the rocks.  Feeding watches, unlike band-reading stints, are species-specific; only one species is monitored per feeding stint.

Observation stints lasted for approximately three hours during which researchers record each time a bird lands within the plot and brings food into a burrow.  The number, identity and length of the prey items are recorded for each delivery.  The size of the prey item is defined by how it compares to the culmen length of the bird.  If, for example, the prey item is the same length as the culmen, then the length is 1. Lengths are later converted to centimeters by reference to prior measurements of adult culmen length.

Results: Diet 2009


Environmental Conditions

Several environmental variables are collected on MSI every day, at three specific times.  At 09:00 each day, researchers record a description of the general weather conditions around the island, wind speed and direction, visibility, percent cloud cover and temperature.  At 12 noon, when sea conditions allow, sea-surface temperature (SST) (°C) is taken.  This is achieved by tossing a standard SST bucket into the water from the landing on the east side of the island and then placing a thermometer in the bucket.  At 21:00 each day researchers gather the same information as at 09:00 but also recorded precipitation.

Results : Weather 2009

Additional Observations

Predators: The gulls on MSI and Gull Rock are counted twice daily. To count gulls on MSI, researchers use binoculars and scan the island perimeter from within the house and deck. Gulls ‘seen from the house’ do not necessarily represent numbers on the entire island. To count gulls loafing on Gull Rock, researchers use a spotting scope on the front deck of the house and count every individual visible. Severe fog can impede gull monitoring. Researchers also take special note of any raptor presence on or around MSI.  Any predation attempts that are observed are documented.
Migrants: During migration, a diverse number of songbirds and shorebirds can be spotted. Numbers of each species are estimated each day.
Potential Breeders: Sightings of birds whose behaviour may suggest breeding activity are observed as closely as possible.  Black Guillemots (Cepphus grylle), Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii), Black Terns (Chlidonias niger) and Laughing Gulls (Larus atricilla) have traditionally been watched at MSI for any signs of breeding.
Fishing Vessels: Any vessel fishing within binocular-sight of MSI is recorded.


Literature Cited

Black, A.L., L.I. Minich and A.W. Diamond. 2004. Machias Seal Island 1995-2004 Progress Report. Unpublished report, Atlantic Cooperative Wildlife Ecology Research Network, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB.

Bond, A.L., M.F. McNutt, T.C. Clarke and A.W. Diamond.  2007.  Machias Seal Island 1995-2006 progress report.  Unpublished report.  Atlantic Cooperative Wildlife Ecology Research Network, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB.

Bunin, J.S. and J.S. Boates.  1994.  Effects of nesting location on breeding success of Arctic Terns on Machias Seal Island. Canadian Journal of Zoology 72:1841-1847.

Diamond, A.W. and C.M. Devlin.  2003.  Seabirds as indicators of changes in marine ecosystems: ecological monitoring on Machias Seal Island. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.  88:153-175.

Harris, M.P. and T.R. Birkhead. 1985. Breeding ecology of the Atlantic Alcidae.  Pp 156-204  in: The Atlantic Alcidae: The evolution, distribution and biology of the auks inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent water areas.  Eds. D.N. Nettleship and T.R. Birkhead. Academic Press Inc., London.

Harris, M.P. and S. Wanless 1989. The breeding biology of Razorbills, Alca torda, on the Isle of May. Bird Study 36:105-114.

MacKinnon, C.M. and A.D. Smith.  1985.  A summary of historical information on the Seabirds of Machias Seal Island.  Canadian Wildlife Service, Sackville, New Brunswick.

Paquet,J.M. and Diamond,A.W. 1998b. Environmental impact assessment - seabird demographic and diet research on Machias Seal Island. Unpublished report. Canadian Wildlife Service, Sackville,N.B.

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