Puffinus griseus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	PROCELLARIIFORMES	PROCELLARIIDAE

Scientific Name:

Puffinus griseus

Species Authority:

(Gmelin, 1789)

Common Name/s:

English	–	Sooty Shearwater
French	–	Puffin fuligineux

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Near Threatened ver 3.1

Year Published:

2010

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Calvert, R., Butchart, S., Bird, J.

Justification:
This species is classified as Near Threatened because although it has a very large global population it is thought to have undergone a moderately rapid decline owing to the impact of fisheries, the harvesting of its young and possibly climate change.

History:

2008	–	Near Threatened
2004	–	Near Threatened

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Puffinus griseus is an abundant shearwater, breeding on islands off New Zealand, Australia and Chile, and the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). In Australia there are colonies on 17 islands (all of less than 1,000 pairs), southern Chile (many colonies, some up to 200,000 pairs and up to 4 million birds on Isla Guafo¹²) and the Falklands (10,000-20,000 pairs) and more than 80 colonies in New Zealand (totalling c.5 million pairs)¹. In 1970-71, the Snares Islands colonies were estimated to support 2,750,000 breeding pairs^2,3. The total world population is thought to be over 20 million birds³. Although this is an extremely numerous species, there are persistent signs of a current decline⁴. In New Zealand, the number of burrows in the largest colony (on the Snares islands) declined by 37% between 1969-1971 and 1996-2000, and burrow occupancy may also have declined, indicating that an overall population decline may have occurred^5,6. Elsewhere the mainland New Zealand, colonies are in decline and certain offshore colonies have not responded to predator control^7,8. In the California Current, Sooty Shearwater numbers have fallen by 90% in the last 20 years⁹. It remains uncertain whether this has resulted from population declines or distributional shifts¹⁰.
Countries:	Native: Antarctica; Argentina; Australia; Bermuda; Brazil; Chile; Costa Rica; Denmark; Falkland Islands (Malvinas); Fiji; France; Greenland; Guadeloupe; Ireland; Israel; Jordan; Marshall Islands; Mexico; New Zealand; Panama; Portugal; Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Spain; United Kingdom; United States Vagrant: Algeria; American Samoa; Barbados; Belgium; Cape Verde; China; Cuba; Egypt; Finland; French Polynesia; Gibraltar; Guatemala; Italy; Jamaica; Latvia; Lebanon; Liberia; Malta; Martinique; Mauritania; Nigeria; Norway; Oman; Poland; Puerto Rico; Russian Federation; Saint Helena; Saint Lucia; Sao Tomé and Principe; Sri Lanka; Svalbard and Jan Mayen; Taiwan, Province of China; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; United Arab Emirates; Virgin Islands, U.S. Present - origin uncertain: Angola; Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Bahamas; Benin; Bouvet Island; Cameroon; Canada; Colombia; Congo; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Côte d'Ivoire; Dominica; Ecuador; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Faroe Islands; French Guiana; French Southern Territories (the); Gabon; Gambia; Germany; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; Heard Island and McDonald Islands; Iceland; Japan; Kiribati; Madagascar; Morocco; Mozambique; Namibia; Nauru; Netherlands; New Caledonia; Norfolk Island; Peru; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Solomon Islands; South Africa; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Suriname; Togo; Tonga; Turks and Caicos Islands; Tuvalu; United States Minor Outlying Islands; Uruguay; Vanuatu; Venezuela; Virgin Islands, British; Wallis and Futuna; Western Sahara
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	The population perhaps numbers 20,000,000 individuals (Brooke, 2004)
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It nests on islands and headlands in large colonies. Burrows are dug for breeding under tussock grass, low scrub and on the Snares Islands under Olearia forest. Birds typically do not return to their natal colonies until age four. It feeds on fish, crustacea and cephalopods, caught while diving. Short (1-3 days) and long (5-15 days) provisioning trips are made by parents; longer trips allow foraging along the Antarctic Polar Front, reducing competition close to breeding grounds and allowing vast colonies to persist.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Marine

Habitat and Ecology:

It nests on islands and headlands in large colonies. Burrows are dug for breeding under tussock grass, low scrub and on the Snares Islands under Olearia forest. Birds typically do not return to their natal colonies until age four. It feeds on fish, crustacea and cephalopods, caught while diving. Short (1-3 days) and long (5-15 days) provisioning trips are made by parents; longer trips allow foraging along the Antarctic Polar Front, reducing competition close to breeding grounds and allowing vast colonies to persist.

Systems:

Terrestrial; Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Harvesting young birds or 'muttonbirding' currently accounts for the take of around a quarter of a million birds annually^2,3, but is unlikely to account for the scale of the decline. Populations are no longer ravaged by pelagic drift-nets which formerly drowned up to 350,000 birds annually¹¹. Longline fisheries are responsible for large numbers of deaths of this and many other seabird species. Some authorities postulate that the decline may be associated with climate change⁹. Rats (Rattus rattus and R. Norvegicus) have been shown to predate on eggs and chicks, altohough the extent of the impact is unknown¹³.

Major Threat(s):

Harvesting young birds or 'muttonbirding' currently accounts for the take of around a quarter of a million birds annually^2,3, but is unlikely to account for the scale of the decline. Populations are no longer ravaged by pelagic drift-nets which formerly drowned up to 350,000 birds annually¹¹. Longline fisheries are responsible for large numbers of deaths of this and many other seabird species. Some authorities postulate that the decline may be associated with climate change⁹. Rats (Rattus rattus and R. Norvegicus) have been shown to predate on eggs and chicks, altohough the extent of the impact is unknown¹³.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Conservation Actions Underway The species is monitored at some sites and has been extensively studied in parts of its range. Some breeding grounds are protected and have benefited from eradications of introduced predators. Conservation Actions Proposed Continue monitoring key colonies and migration bottlenecks. Research the key threats driving declines and assess appropriate responses. Buffer important colonies against invasive species invasions.

Conservation Actions:

Conservation Actions Underway
The species is monitored at some sites and has been extensively studied in parts of its range. Some breeding grounds are protected and have benefited from eradications of introduced predators.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Continue monitoring key colonies and migration bottlenecks. Research the key threats driving declines and assess appropriate responses. Buffer important colonies against invasive species invasions.

Bibliography [top]

	Brooke, M. De L. 2004. Albatrosses and petrels across the world. Oxford University Press, Oxford. del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A.; Sargatal, J. 1992. Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 1: Ostrich to Ducks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Gaze, P. 2000. The response of a colony of sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) and flesh-footed shearwater (P-carneipes) to the cessation of harvesting and the eradication of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus). New Zealand Journal of Zoology 27(4 (SI)): 375-379. Heather, B. D.; Robertson, H. A. 1997. The field guide to the birds of New Zealand. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Jones, C. 2000. Sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) breeding colonies on mainland South Island, New Zealand: evidence of decline and predictors of persistence. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 27(4 (SI)): 327-334. Jones, H.P., Tershy, B.R., Zavaleta, E.S., Croll, D.A., Keitt, B.S., Finkelstein, M.E. and Howald, G.R. 2008. Severity of the effects of invasive rats on seabirds: a global review. Conservation Biology 22(1): 16-26. Marchant, S.; Higgins, P. J. 1990. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds, 1: ratites to ducks. Oxford University Press, Melbourne. Ogi, H., Yatsu, A., Hatanaka, H. and Nitta, A. 1993. The mortality of seabirds by driftnet fisheries in the north Pacific. International North Pacific Fisheries Commission Bulletin 53: 499-518. Reyes-Arriagada, R.; Campos-Ellwanger, P.; Schlatter, R. P.; Baduini, C. 2007. Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus) on Guafo Island: the largest seabird colony in the world? Biodiversity and Conservation 16(4): 913-930. Scofield, R. P., Christie, D. 2002. Beach patrol records indicate a substantial decline in sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) numbers. Notornis 49(3): 158-165. Spear, L. B., Ainley, D. G. 1993. Migration Routes of Sooty Shearwaters in the Pacific Ocean. Condor 101(2): 205-218. Veit, R. R., Pyle, P. and McGowan, J. A. 1996. Ocean warming and long-term change in pelagic bird abundance within the California Current System. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 139: 11–18. Warham, J.; Wilson, G.J. 1982. The size of the Sooty Shearwater population at the Snares Islands, New Zealand. Notornis 29: 23-30.

Brooke, M. De L. 2004. Albatrosses and petrels across the world. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A.; Sargatal, J. 1992. Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 1: Ostrich to Ducks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.

Gaze, P. 2000. The response of a colony of sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) and flesh-footed shearwater (P-carneipes) to the cessation of harvesting and the eradication of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus). New Zealand Journal of Zoology 27(4 (SI)): 375-379.

Heather, B. D.; Robertson, H. A. 1997. The field guide to the birds of New Zealand. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

Jones, C. 2000. Sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) breeding colonies on mainland South Island, New Zealand: evidence of decline and predictors of persistence. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 27(4 (SI)): 327-334.

Jones, H.P., Tershy, B.R., Zavaleta, E.S., Croll, D.A., Keitt, B.S., Finkelstein, M.E. and Howald, G.R. 2008. Severity of the effects of invasive rats on seabirds: a global review. Conservation Biology 22(1): 16-26.

Marchant, S.; Higgins, P. J. 1990. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds, 1: ratites to ducks. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

Ogi, H., Yatsu, A., Hatanaka, H. and Nitta, A. 1993. The mortality of seabirds by driftnet fisheries in the north Pacific. International North Pacific Fisheries Commission Bulletin 53: 499-518.

Reyes-Arriagada, R.; Campos-Ellwanger, P.; Schlatter, R. P.; Baduini, C. 2007. Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus) on Guafo Island: the largest seabird colony in the world? Biodiversity and Conservation 16(4): 913-930.

Scofield, R. P., Christie, D. 2002. Beach patrol records indicate a substantial decline in sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) numbers. Notornis 49(3): 158-165.

Spear, L. B., Ainley, D. G. 1993. Migration Routes of Sooty Shearwaters in the Pacific Ocean. Condor 101(2): 205-218.

Veit, R. R., Pyle, P. and McGowan, J. A. 1996. Ocean warming and long-term change in pelagic bird abundance within the California Current System. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 139: 11–18.

Warham, J.; Wilson, G.J. 1982. The size of the Sooty Shearwater population at the Snares Islands, New Zealand. Notornis 29: 23-30.

Citation:	BirdLife International 2010. Puffinus griseus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 22 May 2012.
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