Tired of Social Distancing? Try Social Attraction! Restoring Naked Island Seabirds
Parakeet auklet. Photo courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
By Allison Sayer
Prince William Sound is home to a wide variety of seabirds. These popular birds include funny looking birds such as the iconic tufted puffin and lesser known but equally silly parakeet auklet. The penguin-like murre, the flying potato-esque tree-nesting marbled murrelet, and the clown-shoed pigeon guillemot are also among the true seabirds that call the Sound home. Other Prince William Sound birds from various families strongly tied to the sea include the stunning harlequin duck, the rough and tumble surf scoter, the long-ranging Arctic tern, and the albatross’ diminutive fellow tube-nose the storm petrel.
All of these birds have been intensively studied since the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and their recovery since that environmental catastrophe has been uneven. They have also been impacted negatively by the proliferation of plastic in the ocean, invasive species, and unusually warm ocean temperatures, along with myriad other environmental pressures. Seabirds are generally long-lived and slow to reproduce, which means that it takes time for them to replace themselves after any negative event.
Amidst this greater picture of uncertainty, there is one island on Prince William Sound bucking the trend. US Fish and Wildlife Biologist Rob Kaler shared some of the work being done on Naked Island at the 2021 Prince William Sound Natural History Symposium hosted virtually by the Prince William Sound Stewardship Foundation. Pigeon guillemots were the main focus of this work, and parakeet auklets were an additional subject.
Both pigeon guillemots and parakeet auklets are alcids, which means that they have several special adaptations for the sea including waterproof feathers. Their bones and wings are better adapted for swimming and diving than they are for flying. Alcids are amazingly maneuverable underwater and can dive to great depths, but their flight is labored.
Pigeon guillemots are medium-sized birds. Their giant feet help them to get around and hold onto the steep rock faces where they nest. It is thought that their huge bright red feet and matching mouth lining would be quite enticing if you happened to be another guillemot, and are a part of their display to attract mates. Sound-wide, pigeon guillemots have shown a substantial decline in estimated numbers since the oil spill, and an additional subsequent drop over the last five years.
Parakeet auklets are small seabirds whose funny bills make them look like they are always smiling. The bill shape might assist them in handling jellyfish, which make up a big portion of their diet.
Naked Island is located just west of the center of Prince William Sound, and was one of the areas impacted by the Exxon Valdez oil spill. On Naked Island, pigeon guillemots faced additional pressure from an introduced mink population that was released on the island in the 1970s.
In 2012, there were just 58 pigeon guillemots counted on Naked Island, although the numbers were known to have been much higher prior to mink introduction. From 2014 through 2018, an intensive trapping and removal program cleared the island of mink. Since then, the population has increased steadily, to 221 birds at the last count.
With the mink threat gone, and the general habitat around the island appearing to be productive, Oregon State University graduate student Sam Stark wondered whether a little advertising could sweeten the deal.
When we humans are looking for a place to dine or spend the night, we sometimes turn to the crowd and seek reviews. If a seabird is looking for a place to nest, it will see a bunch of other seabirds nesting there as a positive “review.”
Stark and a team used a technique known as “social attraction” to attempt to attract nesting birds. They strategically placed decoy birds and devices playing recordings of bird calls in available habitat on Naked Island. This involved rappelling and climbing on cliffs with a large amount of equipment.
Compared to controls, the areas with social attraction received a signficant amount of browsing from pigeon guillemots, who were photographed landing at sites with fake birds and bird calls. Ultimately, all of these open house viewers opted to build elsewhere. Still, Kaler finds this result promising and believes it may lead to increased nesting attempts in the future.
Social attraction was also attempted with parakeet auklets, which had not been documented breeding on Naked Island for at least ten years. One pair of auklets did take the bait, and made a nest attempt at a site featuring fake parakeet auklets and recorded calls.
Social attraction efforts on Naked Island will continue, and Kaler is optimistic that the bird word will continue to spread.
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