Study Species of Bird Island

Now that first call has been finished on the second attempt I have been able to settle more into my role as the Penguin and Giant Petrel Zoological Field Assistant on Bird Island; and it is time to introduce the team and main study species.

I am learning the role from Al Wilson, who has been on island for over a year, and Jerry Gillham, who took on the role for 2.5 years between late 2012 and early 2015 and who has now returned as our station leader for the summer.

Lucy Quinn is the Albatross Zoological Field Assistant who has extended her time on island to stay for a second winter. James Robbins is currently learning from Siân Tarrant as the Seal Zoological Field Assistants and Ian Storey is our technical expert for the coming 12 months, taking on the role from Robbie Scott, keeping the base running with power, heating and water.

(Team photos will come in the next blog, saving the first people shots for a special annual event!)

Our ecological work falls in to two categories; LTMS and non-LTMS. LTMS means long-term monitoring surveys; these have been conducted for multiple years running, some for over 50 years depending on the work, in order to understand the ecological trends of our study species. The non-LTMS work is not long term and often consists of certain survey methods being used for just a season or two in order to answer a specific question we have on the target species.

But the types of work we do will be described as I do them throughout my time on island. For now here is a quick introduction to each of the species we will be working with:

Macaroni Penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus): Most commonly referred to as “Macs” these charismatic little penguins are the subject of study in two main areas, Little Mac and Big Mac.

Macs

Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua): Simply called “Gentoos” these penguins are much harder to determine study times for as they can begin their season at different times each year depending on conditions.

Gentoo

Northern Giant Petrel (Macronectes halli) and Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus): Collectively known as “Geeps” these two closely related species are most distinguishable from each other by the coloured sheath on the tips of their bills. Think traffic lights, red is top, or north for the Northern Geeps whilst green is bottom, or south for the Southern Geeps.

Geeps - Northern on the left, Southern the right

Whilst these four are my main target species there are a number of others that have some LTMS work that falls within my job description as well.

White-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis): One of the larger petrel species on the island, although obviously still much smaller than the Geeps, these petrels are the only burrow nesting species we regularly monitor. Called “White-chins” because of the small white marking below their bill. (As White-chins are burrow nesting photos are harder to come by, but I will provide some when going in to more detail on this species later in the season).

Imperial Shag (Phalacrocorax atriceps): As this is the only member of the cormorant family on island they are referred to as just “Shags”. Preferring to nest on cliff ledges they are some of the more inaccessible colonies we monitor.

Shag

Brown Skua (Stercorarius antarcticus): The local scavengers and predators (although the Geeps also fit this description!) the “Skuas” are one of the more recent additions to our study programme.

Skua

South Georgia Pintail (Anas georgica) and Snowy Sheathbill (Chionis albus): The “Pintail” and “Poop-Chicken” (to put it nicely!) are the subject of some small monitoring practises during the winter. The latter gets its unusual nickname from its tendency to peck around in the faeces of other animals for food, occasionally it will even peck in open wounds of seals!

Left: Poop-chicken - Right: Pintail

Whilst these are the species I am monitoring with Al there are also the albatross species that I am assisting Lucy with, and the seals being studied by James and Siân.

Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans): The “Wanals” or “Wanderers” are the largest flying bird in the world and it takes them 18 months to raise a single chick. This means that even when the quieter moments in winter arrive there will still be some Wanal chicks to go and check on.

Wanal

Black-browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophrys) and Grey-headed Albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma): Collectively called “Mollymawks”, the “Black-brows” and “Grey-heads” are two closely related species spread across the island in multiple colonies of various sizes.

Mollymawks: Grey-Head on the left, Black-brow the right

Light-mantled Sooty Albatross (Phoebetria palpebrata): Termed “Sooties” these albatross are more nervous than the other species and as such have less work attributed to them; but some monitoring can be done.

Sooties

Antarctic Fur Seal (Arctocephalus gazella): Called “Furries” these are the most common species of seal on Bird Island, crowding out the bay in front of our accommodation during the summer.

Furry

Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina): “Ellies” are the largest of the seals on Bird Island and breed earlier in the year than the Furries. They certainly are impressive to see up close!

Ellie - big male between some Furries

Leopard Seal (Hydrurga leptonyx): The “Leps” are notorious as the predatory seal on island, coming ashore and monitored in the winter they can occasionally be seen in the waters hunting penguins. (Unfortunately the Leps are winter visitors to our island and so no photo for now).

Ultimately we all get to work with all the species as certain studies often require more than one or two pairs of hands, plus being such a small team on an island with one bird or seal for every 1.5m² means having to work very closely together to get everything done!

So these are the main species I will be telling you all about during my time on Bird Island. Of course there are other species living here as well, or passing by on migration, and I am sure they will make their presence known from time-to-time and I will let you know when they do. But for now, I’m off to meet a penguin, or ten-thousand!

Views from the hills either side of Home Sweet Home!