Hawaiian Birds and Nihoa Millerbird Success
Endangered Nihoa Millerbirds were reintroduced to Laysan Island in 2011, after a 100-year absence, and are now breeding there. These tiny Hawaiian songbirds were relocated in a bold effort to initiate a second population and minimize the risk of extinction. Biologists monitoring the birds have just reported that some of the birds have laid eggs, and some of these eggs have now hatched.
The Nihoa Millerbird (Acrocephalus familiaris kingi) made an unsuccessful out-of-season breeding attempt shortly after their arrival. Now the birds are entering their first proper breeding season, and nest building activity was observed in February, and the first eggs in March. This first-ever opportunity to observe Millerbird breeding from start to finish and collect behavioral and life-history data throughout the season is a significant advance in the study of this endangered species. The next important milestone for Millerbirds on Laysan will be when chicks fledge and forage on their own. Following that, the project team will be looking for this first generation of Laysan-hatched birds to begin breeding themselves.
The first Millerbird translocation to Laysan Island, which is within Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge and the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, was the result of many years of research and detailed planning by biologists and resource managers. By creating a second population of Millerbirds on a second, distant island, the translocation project will reduce the chances that catastrophic events on Nihoa, such as hurricanes or the introduction of predators, will drive the Millerbird to extinction. Plans are already underway for a second translocation to ensure that the Laysan population has a solid foundation to build upon.
Hawaiian Birds and Short-tailed Albatross Success 2
An endangered Short-tailed Albatross has nested in the United States and produced a chick for the second time ever recorded. The recent discovery of the nest and chick on Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands follows the fledging of the first U.S.-born chick last year at the same site by the same parents. This news suggests that the first chick hatched last year was not an isolated incident, and this may be the early stages of the formation of a new population of this very rare bird.
The Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) was once the most abundant albatross species of the North Pacific, numbering more than a million birds. Feather hunters decimated the population around the turn of the century, however, and researchers believed by the 1940’s that the species had gone extinct. In the early 1950s, ten pairs were discovered breeding on the volcanic island of Torishima, Japan, and they have grown to 3,000 individuals.
Midway Atoll is home to the world’s largest colonies of Laysan and Black-footed albatrosses, as well as millions of other seabirds. 55 miles from Midway, another Short-tailed Albatross pair is attempting breeding on Kure Atoll, the northern-most coral atoll in the world. Both Midway and Kure are part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Albatrosses tend to be faithful to the place of their birth, returning when they are around 8 years old to rear their own young. So it will be several years before researchers find out whether or not a full-fledged short-tailed American colony is in the making.
Papahanaumokuakea Shipwrecks and Churchill
Within the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, at French Frigate Shoals, is the site of the possible shipwreck Churchill. The four-masted Schooner Churchill was built in North Bend, Oregon, and launched in April, 1900 by shipwright Asa Meade Simpson, and was known to have been lost in the area in 1917.
While the identity of the ship has not yet been determined conclusively, diagnostic artifacts at the site, including parts of the windlass, three large iron anchors, ship’s pumps, and numerous blocks and rigging components, appear consistent with the 178-foot, 600-ton Schooner Churchill. Anchors, rigging, pumps and deck equipment all correspond to the Churchill’s size and construction.
The Churchill was carrying a cargo of copra (the dried meat or nut of the coconut) from Nukualofa, Tonga, to Seattle, Washington, when she ran aground on a reef at French Frigate Shoals on Sept. 27, 1917. All members of her 12-man crew were rescued by a nearby vessel.
Hawaiian Birds and Short-tailed Albatross Success
Even though this one particular Short-tailed Albatross hatched in the middle of a raging storm in January, and was swept away from its nest during a second storm in February, and then survived the Japanese tsunami in March, it still managed to fledge in June. This alone makes for an incredible survival story, but this Short-tailed Albatross chick is also the first to have been bred in the United States.
The chick’s parents were banded as fledglings on their main breeding grounds of Torishima Island, Japan. The pair then nested in the middle of a Midway Atoll decoy plot that biologists created in 2000 in an effort to lure the birds to breed there. Biologists placed dozens of decoys in the area, including models of adults and immature ‘shorties’, and played recorded birdcalls.
The Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) was once the most abundant of North Pacific albatross, but was decimated by feather hunting, and by the late 1940s was thought to be extinct. They were later found on only two breeding sites in the world -Torishima and the Senkaku Islands in Japan.
Midway Atoll, which is now part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, provides a new breeding ground for this endangered seabird, marking a potential turning point for the species. The Short-tailed Albatross ranges along the coasts of eastern Russia, Korea, China, Taiwan, Aleutian and the Hawaiian Islands, and rarely off the Pacific Coast of North America south to California. The Midway chick will spend the next two to seven years at sea before returning to land to find a mate. Photo by Pete Leary.
Hawaiian Monk Seal and Ciguatoxin
Hawaiian Monk Seals, whose population has dwindled to around 1100, are now exposed to another threat. Researchers from NOAA have discovered a potent and highly-debilitating toxin in the critically endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal. The dangerous toxin, called ciguatoxin, is produced by marine algae common on coral reefs, and accumulates in fish species that are consumed by humans.
The study was conducted by marine toxin experts at NOAA’s National Ocean Service in collaboration with veterinarians and ecologists at NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. Monk seals were sampled throughout the Hawaiian Islands, including in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and samples were analyzed for toxins.
The study reveals that Hawaiian Monk Seals (Monachus schauinslandi) are exposed to significant levels of these ciguatoxins. Ciguatera, the human disease caused by ciguatoxin, affects thousands of people every year worldwide and comes in the form of acute gastrointestinal and neurological illness with symptoms resembling chronic fatigue syndrome.
The threat could pose management challenges for this species that has been dwindling at four percent annually. “Based upon this study, we believe that ciguatoxin exposure is common in the monk seal population. This study is an important first step. However, we still need to understand more clearly how widespread exposure is and more importantly what role it may be playing in the decline of the species.”
Papahanaumokuakea and Nihoa Island
Nihoa Island is located at the southeastern end of Papahanaumokuakea, about 170 acres in size, with 900 foot cliffs, basalt rock surface, and a tiny beach. This remote land of rugged cliffs and steep valleys provided a home for Hawaiians between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1700. More than 80 cultural sites have been discovered, including religious shrines, habitation terraces and shelters, agricultural terraces, and burial caves. Many of the mea makamae (cultural objects) and structures associated with these wahi pana (cultural places) are similar to many found throughout the Main Hawaiian Islands. Artifacts found included fishhooks, sinkers, cowry shell lures, hammerstones, grindstones, and adzes.
Even though the island’s rugged landscape may look uninhabitable, its rocky outcroppings support some of the most unique and varied insect, seabird, and plant life of all Papahanaumokuakea. Seventy-two terrestrial arthropods including giant crickets and earwigs, and two endemic landbirds, the Nihoa Finch (Telespyza ultima) and the endangered Nihoa Millerbird (Acrocephalus familiaris kingi), are found only on Nihoa. Several species of seabirds, such as terns, shearwaters, petrels, boobies, albatrosses, tropic birds, and frigate birds are also found here.
Endemic endangered plants include the Nihoa Fan Palm (Pritchardia remota), the only species of tree on the island, and the leguminous ‘Ohai Shrub (Sesbania tomentosa). The submerged coral reef habitat covers about 142,000 acres with seventeen species of stony corals documented. Small encrusting forms of the lobe coral, and rose coral colonies are the most common. Limu (algae), wana (sea urchin), and opihi (limpet) inhabit the shallow waters, while sharks and jacks hover in deeper waters offshore. The rare spotted knifejaw (Oplegnathus punctatus) is often seen at Nihoa. Nihoa also supports a small population of endangered Hawaiian Monk Seals.
