| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANIMALIA | CHORDATA | AVES | Procellariiformes | Diomedeidae |
| Scientific Name: | Phoebetria fusca | ||||||
| Species Authority: | (Hilsenberg, 1822) | ||||||
Common Name/s:
|
|||||||
| Red List Category & Criteria: | Endangered A4bd ver 3.1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Year Assessed: | 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Assessor/s | BirdLife International | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Evaluator/s: | Bird, J., Butchart, S. (BirdLife International Red List Authority) & Small, C. (BirdLife International Global Seabird Programme) | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Justification: This species qualifies as Endangered owing to a very rapid decline over three generations (90 years), probably owing to interactions with fisheries. However, trends at three sites have been more severe, and the species could be uplisted to Critically Endangered if these trends are found to be more general. |
||||||||||||||||||||||
| History: |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Range Description: | Phoebetria fusca breeds on islands in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The total annual breeding population is estimated at 12,500-19,000 pairs, equivalent to a total breeding population of c.42,000 individuals5 as breeding is almost wholly biennial. Estimates of pairs are: c.5,000 on Gough Island11, 4,125-5,250 in the Tristan da Cunha group (to UK)15, 1,564 on Prince Edward and Marion Islands (South Africa)8, 2,620 on the Crozet Islands, less than five on Kerguelen Island, and 300-400 on Amsterdam Island (all French Southern Territories)1. On Possession Island (Crozet), the population declined by 58% between 1980 and 199510 and is still declining, although at a slower rate16. On Marion Island, the population declined by 25% between 1990 and 19988. At Gough Island, the population appears to have decreased by about half over 28 years11, however numbers have remained stable from 2000 to 2005 The species forages in subtropical waters both during and outside the breeding season10. |
| Countries: |
Native:
Argentina; Australia; Brazil; French Southern Territories (the); Heard Island and McDonald Islands; Saint Helena; South Africa; Uruguay
Vagrant:
Antarctica; Falkland Islands (Malvinas); Mauritius; New Zealand; Réunion; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
|
| FAO Marine Fishing Areas: |
Native:
Atlantic – southeast; Atlantic – southwest; Atlantic – Antarctic; Indian Ocean – western; Indian Ocean – Antarctic; Indian Ocean – eastern
|
| Range Map: |
(click map to view full version)
|
| Population: |
The total annual breeding population is estimated at 12,500-19,000 pairs, consisting of c.5,000 pairs on Gough Island (Cuthbert and Sommer 2004a), 4,125-5,250 pairs in the Tristan da Cunha group (Richardson 1984), 1,720 pairs on Prince Edward and Marion Islands (Crawford et al. 2003; Ryan et al. 2003), 2,620 pairs on the Crozet Islands, less than five pairs on Kerguelen Island, and 300-400 pairs on Amsterdam Island (Carboneras 1992b).
|
| Population Trend: |
Decreasing
|
| Habitat and Ecology: | It feeds on cephalopods, fish, crustaceans and carrion, occasionally following fishing vessels2. It breeds in loose colonies of up to 50-60 nests on cliffs or steep slopes7. |
| Systems: | Marine |
| Major Threat(s): | Both adults and juveniles have been caught as bycatch by Japanese longline vessels fishing inside and beyond the Australian Fishing Zone6 and at least some are killed on tuna longlines off southern Africa12. However, only one bird (of 1,500 examined) is known to have been killed by vessels with observers in the Prince Edward fishery9. One banded bird has been caught by a Chinese Taipei longline vessel fishing in the Indian Ocean16. Introduced predators on Kerguelen and Amsterdam may have a significant effect on breeding success. The harvest of chicks and adults in the Tristan group is banned and illegal poaching is now probably very rare9. The species could be affected by avian cholera and erysipelas bacteria on Amsterdam Island13. |
| Conservation Actions: |
Conservation actions underway: CMS Appendix II and ACAP Annex 1. Population monitoring and foraging studies are being undertaken at Possession, Amsterdam and Marion. The species is protected in Tristan da Cunha3,9. Gough is a World Heritage Site and the Prince Edward Islands are a Special Nature Reserve. Inaccessible and Gough Islands are nature reserves. A population estimate was made at Gough during 2000-2001, and a repeatable monitoring protocol was devised14. Monitoring has been repeated in 2003 and 2006 at Gough. Gough and Tristan birds have also been remotely-tracked, to determine at-sea distribution. A project on Tristan da Cunha (2004-2006) is undertaking population counts. In 2007, Crozet, Amsterdam and Kerguelen Islands were declared Nature Reserves. Conservation actions proposed: Repeat standardised population surveys at all key sites, most notably Gough and Tristan da Cunha. Determine foraging distribution of species and overlap with longline fisheries. Promote adoption of best-practice mitigation measures in all fisheries within the species' range, particularly via intergovernmental mechanisms such as ACAP, CCAMLR, FAO, and Regional Fisheries Management Organisations such as the tuna commissions in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans (ICCAT, IOTC). |
| Citation: | BirdLife International 2008. Phoebetria fusca. In: IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 February 2010. |
| Disclaimer: | To make use of this information, please check the <Terms of Use>. |
| Feedback: | If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please fill in the feedback form so that we can correct or extend the information provided |
