Diving Seabirds: Working Hard and Living Long

ScienceDaily (July 2, 2012) — Scientists have found that diving birds reach their 30s and then die quickly and suddenly, showing few signs of aging prior to death.

Their findings, which will be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting in Salzburg on 2nd July could help us understand the aging process, providing critical insights for our aging population.

The guillemots -- which look similar to penguins but can fly -- have the highest flight costs of any bird and expend substantial energy for diving. Their high metabolisms and frequent dives should produce oxidative stress, causing the birds to deteriorate as they age. But, the researchers discovered that the birds stay fit and active as they grow older, maintaining their flying, diving, and foraging abilities.

Kyle Elliott, a PhD student at the University of Manitoba and the study's lead author, said, "Most of what we know about aging is from studies of short-lived round worms, fruit flies, mice, and chickens, but long-lived animals age differently. We need data from long-lived animals, and one good example is long-lived seabirds."

Continued: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120702134744.htm

Scientist spends 40 years studying Skomer Island’s seabirds

Guillemots on Skomer Island
June 2012. A bird expert at the University of Sheffield has spent 40 years studying seabirds on an island off the UK in one of the longest running investigations of its kind. Professor Tim Birkhead, of the University's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, first visited Skomer Island - situated off the cost of west Wales - in 1972 and since then he has returned every summer, gaining invaluable information about guillemots.

Guillemot study
He will visit the island again on June 21 2012 for 10 days, marking his 40th breeding season studying the guillemots, conducting an annual census and ringing the birds to see how old they are when they start to breed and how long they live.

Professor Birkhead said: "It has been an invaluable investigation, for example it is clear that climate change has had a huge effect on the guillemots as they now breed two weeks earlier than they did in the 1970s. We also know a huge amount more about guillemot biology than we did 40 years ago, and we can use changes in guillemot numbers to tell us what is happening in the seas surrounding the island.

"Long term studies like this are few and far between but remain vital for understanding changes taking place in the environment. It's been a constant challenge both to secure funding and to carry out the work itself as the birds breed on the sea battered cliffs of a remote island."

½ million seabirds
Home to about half a million seabirds, including the guillemots, razorbills and puffins, uninhabited Skomer Island is a natural nature reserve, specially protected and a site of scientific importance.

Technological advances throughout the four decades have enabled Professor Birkhead to gain even more information about the birds.

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/skomer-guillemots.html#cr