Birds and Climate Change

Northern Fulmars

 

Northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) are pelagic seabirds in the Procellariidae family, inhabiting a large range covering the North Atlantic and the North Pacific. They are very long-lived, and individuals of over 50 years have been recorded. They start breeding when they are around 10 years old and can continue breeding until they are over 40 years old. They also form very long pair bonds, which often last throughout their lifetime,  though divorces sometimes occur. They almost always return to the same colony year after year, and often also to the exact same nest site. The breeding season last from May to August (depending on the location of the colony), during which one single egg is produced. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the non-breeding period of the year (September to late March) northern fulmars usually forage large distances away from the colony but may visit the colony. They utilise a broad range of prey and make use of fishery discards as a major food source. Outside of the breeding season they can make very long trips, one individual have been known to travel all the way from the Orkney islands to the mid-Atlantic ridge and back, a trip of a total of 6200 km (Edwards et al. 2013)!

 

Something northern fulmars are well-know for is their defence mechanism: projectile vomiting. The vomit consists mainly of a strongly smelling oil and partly digested fish. Click here to see it in action.

 

Northern fulmars are listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, as they have a wide distribution all across the North Atlantic and the North Pacific and a large population size of an estimated 15,000,000-50,000,000 individuals. Even so, multiple human-induced threats have been identified that may affect the species. One threat that has been widely researched is the ingestion of discarded plastic in our oceans, with a latest estimate of 5.23 trillion pieces of plastic together weighing 268.940 tonne floating around (Eriksen et al. 2014). One study found that of 40 examined fulmars, 35 (87.5 %) had plastic in their stomachs, with an average of 15.3 pieced of plastic per fulmar (Trevail et al. 2015). The amount of plastic in the stomach depends on where the fulmar has been foraging. Sharp pieces of plastic can pierce holes in their internal organs, and if they consume large quantities there may not be space enough for food, leading to eventual starvation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to the threats from plastic, northern fulmars are also at risk of becoming bycatch of demersal long-line fishing. They get accidentally caught when feeding. In additon, they are also sensitive to human-induced changes in food supply through the reduction of offal being thrown overboard. The effects of climate change on northern fulmars are further discussed here.

 

Sources:

BirdLife International. 2015. Fulmarus glacialis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T22697866A85026192. Downloaded on 24 January 2016.

 

Dunnet, G.M., 1991. Population studies of the Fulmar on Eynhallow, Orkney Islands. Ibis 133: 24-27.

 

Edwards, E.W.J., Quinn, L.R:, Wakfield, E.D., Miller, P.I. and Thompson, P.M., 2013. Tracking a northern fulmar from a Scottish nesting site to the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone: Evidence of linkage betwwn coastal breeding sites and Mid-Atlantic Ridge feeding sites. Deep-Sea Research II 98: 438-444.

 

Eriksen M, Lebreton LCM, Carson HS et al (2014) Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans: more than 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing over 250,000 tons afloat at Sea. PLoS One 9: e111913

 

Furness, R.W. & Todd, C.M., 1984. Diets and feeding of Fulmars Fulmarus glacialis during the breeding season: a comparison between St Kilda and Shetland colonies. Ibis 126, 379–387.

 

Hobson, K.A. & Welch, H.E., 1992. Observations of Foraging Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) in the Canadian High Arctic. Arctic 45,:150-153.

 

Macdonald, M.A., 1977. Adult Mortality and Fidelity to Mate and Nest-site in a Group of Marked Fulmars. Bird Study 24: 165-168.

Macdonald, M.A., 1980. The winter attendance of Fulmars at land in NE Scotland. Ornis Scandinavica 11: 23-29.

 

Phillips, E.M., Nevins, H.R:M., Hatch, S.A., Ramey, A.M., Miller, M.A. and Harvey, J.T., 2010. Seabird bycatch in Alaska demersal longline fishery trials: a demographic summary. Marine Ornithology 38: 111-117.

 

Tasker, M., 2009. The Northern Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis. In: The Birds of Scotland (eds. R.W. Forrester, I.J. Andrews, C.J. McInerny, R.D. Murray, R.Y. McGowan, B. Zonfrillo, M.W. Betts, D.C. Jardine & D.S. Grundy). SOC, Aberlady.

 

Trevail, A.M., Gabrielsen, G.W:, Kühn, S. and Van Franeker, J.A., 2015. Elevated levels of ingested plastic in a high Arctic seabird, the northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis). Polar Biology 38: 975-981.

 

Wilcox, C., Van Sebille, E. and Hardesty, B.D:, 2015. Threat of plastic pollution to seabirds is global, pervasive and increasing. PNAS 112: 11899-11904.