Flipper Bands Research Articles

Resightings of Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) rehabilitated and released in eastern Brazil, with remarks on injuries and feather damage caused by flipper bands

Resightings of Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) rehabilitated and released in eastern Brazil, with remarks on injuries and feather damage caused by flipper bands

Validation and welfare assessment of flipper-mounted time-depth recorders for monitoring penguins in zoos and aquariums

The time that penguins devote to aquatic behaviors likely has important implications for their welfare in zoos and aquariums. For decades, field researchers have used time-depth recorders (TDRs) to understand the behavior of penguins at sea. However, zoos and aquariums have rarely used these tools, and wearing devices can potentially affect animals negatively by causing discomfort or imposing energetic costs. We evaluated the long-term behavioral responses of 27 penguins (n = 8 king penguins, Aptenodytes patagonicus; n = 3 gentoo penguins, Pygoscelis papua ellsworthi; n = 8 macaroni penguins, Eudyptes chrysolophus; and n = 8 southern rockhopper penguins, Eudyptes chrysocome) before, during, and after wearing TDRs in an ABA study design. Our novel method involved affixing the TDRs to a custom-designed cradle and securing them on the penguins using flipper bands, which the penguins were accustomed to wearing for identification. The experiment was repeated four times, and we used a total of 399.5 h of behavioral observations to evaluate the effects of the TDRs on locomotor, comfort, and social behaviors. We also conducted observations with a second set of penguins (two of each species) naïve to wearing TDRs to evaluate their acute responses following application of the devices. Finally, we conducted validation tests to assess the accuracy of TDRs in a freshwater pool. Penguins observed immediately after the devices were applied to their flipper bands for the first time showed little device-directed behavior. However, there were some individual differences, suggesting that zoos and aquariums should carefully monitor initial behavioral responses to TDRs. In the long term, wearing TDRs had few effects on the behavior of the penguins. The penguins displayed almost no device-directed behavior, and there were few statistically significant differences in their behavior across the three study conditions. Seasonal changes and penguin weight likely explained the increase in movement king penguins demonstrated after wearing TDRs (F2,58 = 4.34, p = 0.02). King penguins also showed a small increase in agonistic behavior while wearing TDRs (F2,73 = 3.81, p = 0.03), a difference that may have been related to mating competition during the breeding season. Our results indicate that these flipper-mounted TDRs had few effects on the penguins, while providing valuable information about 24-hour use of aquatic resources in their freshwater habitats.

Hydrodynamic handicaps and organizational complexity in the foraging behavior of two free-ranging penguin species

Animal movement exhibits self-similarity across a range of both spatial and temporal scales reminiscent of statistical fractals. Stressors are known to induce changes in these statistical patterns of behavior, although the direction and interpretation of such changes are not always clear. We examined whether the imposition of known hydrodynamic disruptors, bio-logging devices and flipper bands, induces changes in the temporal organization (complexity) of foraging sequences in two penguin species, little penguins (Eudyptula minor) and Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae). Detrended fluctuation analysis showed that foraging sequences produced by little penguins carrying larger loggers were more complex, i.e., were more erratic tending toward greater stochasticity, than those carrying smaller loggers. However, logger size did not affect complexity in foraging sequences of Adelie penguins. Logger position was associated only weakly with altered complexity in little penguins, with individuals carrying loggers in the middle of their backs displaying slightly more complex dive sequences than those carrying loggers lower on their backs. Finally, despite their known negative effects on penguin fitness, flipper bands were not associated with dive sequence complexity in little penguins. Despite that externally attached devices can disrupt certain behavioral parameters in diving seabirds, we found mixed evidence in support of the hypothesis that such devices significantly disrupt the time-structured organizational properties of foraging sequences in the two penguin species investigated. However, smaller species carrying larger loggers, and perhaps those positioned higher on their backs, may experience an added element of noise in their behavioral sequences that may indicate a departure from foraging behavior observed under normal, unburdened conditions.

Pollution, habitat loss, fishing, and climate change as critical threats to penguins.

Cumulative human impacts across the world's oceans are considerable. We therefore examined a single model taxonomic group, the penguins (Spheniscidae), to explore how marine species and communities might be at risk of decline or extinction in the southern hemisphere. We sought to determine the most important threats to penguins and to suggest means to mitigate these threats. Our review has relevance to other taxonomic groups in the southern hemisphere and in northern latitudes, where human impacts are greater. Our review was based on an expert assessment and literature review of all 18 penguin species; 49 scientists contributed to the process. For each penguin species, we considered their range and distribution, population trends, and main anthropogenic threats over the past approximately 250 years. These threats were harvesting adults for oil, skin, and feathers and as bait for crab and rock lobster fisheries; harvesting of eggs; terrestrial habitat degradation; marine pollution; fisheries bycatch and resource competition; environmental variability and climate change; and toxic algal poisoning and disease. Habitat loss, pollution, and fishing, all factors humans can readily mitigate, remain the primary threats for penguin species. Their future resilience to further climate change impacts will almost certainly depend on addressing current threats to existing habitat degradation on land and at sea. We suggest protection of breeding habitat, linked to the designation of appropriately scaled marine reserves, including in the High Seas, will be critical for the future conservation of penguins. However, large-scale conservation zones are not always practical or politically feasible and other ecosystem-based management methods that include spatial zoning, bycatch mitigation, and robust harvest control must be developed to maintain marine biodiversity and ensure that ecosystem functioning is maintained across a variety of scales.

Effects of flipper bands and injected transponders on the survival of adult Little Penguins Eudyptula minor

Tagging is essential for many types of ecological and behavioural studies, and it is generally assumed that it does not affect the fitness of the individuals being examined. However, the tagging of birds has been shown to have negative effects on some aspects of their lives. Here we investigate the influence of tagging on apparent survival. We examined the effects of flipper bands and injected transponders on the apparent survival of adult Little Penguins by comparing the survival probabilities of 2483 Little Penguins marked at Phillip Island, Australia, between 1995 and 2001 in one of three ways: with bands, with transponders or with both. The design of the study and our method of analysis allowed us to estimate tag loss and ensured that tag loss did not bias the survival estimates. Birds marked with flipper bands had lower survival probabilities than those marked with transponders (with apparent survival probabilities in the first year after tagging of 75% for banded birds and 80% for birds fitted with transponders, and in subsequent years of 87% for banded birds and 91% for birds fitted with transponders). We estimated both band and transponder loss probabilities for the first time, and found that transponder loss probabilities were substantially higher than band loss probabilities, particularly in the first year after marking when the tag loss probability was 5% for transponders and 0.7% for bands. Survival probabilities were lower in the first year after marking than in subsequent years for all birds. Studies of penguins that have used flipper bands to identify individuals may have underestimated annual adult survival probabilities, as banded penguins were likely to have lower than average survival probabilities than those of unbanded birds. The higher annual survival probabilities of individuals marked with transponders indicate that this should be the preferred marking technique for Little Penguins. However, future studies will, like ours, need to consider the higher rates of transponder loss when estimating survival, possibly by double‐tagging some birds.

Tags on seabirds: how seriously are instrument-induced behaviours considered?

AbstractEquipping birds with tags (defined as any item externally attached to birds, including transmitters, loggers and flipper bands, or implanted devices, such as transponders) gives particular insights into animal biology, although researchers may not give systematic consideration of tag impact. We examined 357 papers published between 1986 and 2009 where tags (excluding rings attached to birds’ legs) were used on seabirds, to examine the extent to which researchers considered deleterious effects. Fifty-one (14.3%) papers considered instrumentation effects in their abstract, 31 (60.8%) of which showed statistically significant effects on seabird biology. Of the total data set, 302 (84.6%) articles were classified as ‘indirect’ (with no stated aim to assess the influence of the equipment used) and although most of these (237; 76.5%) did discuss instrumentation effects, this accounted for less than a mean of 2% of the total length of the text. Despite a clear increase in the number of papers based on tagging technology for seabird study over the previous 24 years, there has been no corresponding increase in documentation of the effects of devices on their bearers. We suggest mechanisms by which this issue might be addressed.

An ethical issue in biodiversity science: The monitoring of penguins with flipper bands

Individual marking is essential to study the life-history traits of animals and to track them in all kinds of ecological, behavioural or physiological studies. Unlike other birds, penguins cannot be banded on their legs due to their leg joint anatomy and a band is instead fixed around a flipper. However, there is now detailed evidence that flipper-banding has a detrimental impact on individuals. It can severely injure flipper tissues, and the drag effect of their flipper bands results in a higher energy expenditure when birds are moving through the water. It also results in lower efficiency in foraging, since they require longer foraging trips, as well as in lower survival and lower breeding success. Moreover, due to the uncertainty of the rate of band loss, flipper bands induce a scientific bias. These problems, which obviously have serious ethical implications, can be avoided with alternative methods such as radiofrequency identification techniques.

From Science 's Online Daily News Site

Science NOW reported recently that pandas prefer old-growth forests, the European Planck satellite has released a catalog of stellar hatcheries, flipper bands harm penguins, and the black hole in the core of galaxy M87 is the most massive black hole for which a precise mass has ever been measured, among other stories.

Band of bothers

Researchers' flipper bands can seriously dent penguin survival, and also skew the results of research.

Reliability of flipper-banded penguins as indicators of climate change

In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted an urgent need to assess the responses of marine ecosystems to climate change. Because they lie in a high-latitude region, the Southern Ocean ecosystems are expected to be strongly affected by global warming. Using top predators of this highly productive ocean (such as penguins) as integrative indicators may help us assess the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems. Yet most available information on penguin population dynamics is based on the controversial use of flipper banding. Although some reports have found the effects of flipper bands to be deleterious, some short-term (one-year) studies have concluded otherwise, resulting in the continuation of extensive banding schemes and the use of data sets thus collected to predict climate impact on natural populations. Here we show that banding of free-ranging king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) impairs both survival and reproduction, ultimately affecting population growth rate. Over the course of a 10-year longitudinal study, banded birds produced 41% [corrected] fewer chicks and had a survival rate 16 percentage points [corrected] lower than non-banded birds, demonstrating a massive long-term impact of banding and thus refuting the assumption that birds will ultimately adapt to being banded. Indeed, banded birds still arrived later for breeding at the study site and had longer foraging trips even after 10 years. One of our major findings is that responses of flipper-banded penguins to climate variability (that is, changes in sea surface temperature and in the Southern Oscillation index) differ from those of non-banded birds. We show that only long-term investigations may allow an evaluation of the impact of flipper bands and that every major life-history trait can be affected, calling into question the banding schemes still going on. In addition, our understanding of the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems based on flipper-band data should be reconsidered.

The price tag

Studies of animal populations often use tags to track the fate of individuals and assume that there is no adverse impact. Work on penguins shows that seemingly innocuous flipper bands affect survival and breeding success. See Letter p.203 For decades, the standard practice for studying penguins — well established as bellwethers of climate change — has been to tag the birds with flipper bands. It is a controversial technique, however, with conflicting reports on whether the tags themselves can alter the birds' behaviour. Now, the results of a ten-year study of free-ranging king penguins provide convincing evidence that banding is harmful. Banded birds had a markedly lower survival rate, with every major life-history trait affected, and they were more affected by climate variation than birds without bands. As well as raising doubts over marine ecosystem data based on banding, this work has implications for the ethics of animal tagging.

Flipper bands do not affect foraging-trip duration of Magellanic Penguins

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Flipper Bands Modify the Short‐Term Diving Behavior of Little Penguins

ABSTRACT Flipper banding has long been the primary method to identify individual penguins, despite studies indicating that it may be detrimental to breeding success and survival. Our objectives were to measure the effects that flipper bands may have on diving performance of little penguins to determine whether the bands may be detrimental. We studied short‐ and long‐term direct effects of flipper banding on diving behavior of free‐ranging little penguins (Eudyptula minor) by comparing diving behavior before and after banding and by comparing diving performance of unbanded birds to those that had carried flipper bands for several years, respectively. Recently banded birds displayed increases in multiple variables following banding. Long‐term banded penguins did not exhibit differences to their unbanded counterparts in most variables examined. Our findings are useful to those considering or reviewing the use of bands in penguin study and management.

Restoration of oiled African penguins Spheniscus demersus a decade after the Apollo Sea spill

The bulk ore carrier Apollo Sea sank south-west of Dassen Island off western South Africa in June 1994, oiling approximately 10 000 African penguins Spheniscus demersus, most of which were collected from Dassen Island. A total of 4 076 de-oiled penguins was released with flipper bands. From 1994 to 2005, follow-up research using re-sighting and capture-mark-recapture methods indicated that about 73% of the de-oiled penguins observed back at Dassen Island attempted to breed, and were thus successfully restored into the breeding population. For de-oiled breeders, the median interval between their first recorded sighting and first recorded breeding attempt was 11 months, indicating a short-term delay in restoration. At least 45% of the de-oiled breeders were still being re-sighted five years after their release, and a minimum of 4% survived into their ninth year. These results represent the most successful restoration estimates anywhere in the world. The proportion of de-oiled juvenile penguins re-sighted back at Dassen Island and recorded breeding was lower than that of birds in adult plumage. De-oiled non-breeders spent significantly more time along the shore and less time within breeding colonies than de-oiled breeders. The mean proportion of de-oiled breeders that abstained from breeding each year during the study period was greater than expected. There was a negative relationship between breeding and subsequent survival and breeding, suggesting a cost of reproduction for de-oiled birds.

King penguin population threatened by Southern Ocean warming

Seabirds are sensitive indicators of changes in marine ecosystems and might integrate and/or amplify the effects of climate forcing on lower levels in food chains. Current knowledge on the impact of climate changes on penguins is primarily based on Antarctic birds identified by using flipper bands. Although flipper bands have helped to answer many questions about penguin biology, they were shown in some penguin species to have a detrimental effect. Here, we present for a Subantarctic species, king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus), reliable results on the effect of climate on survival and breeding based on unbanded birds but instead marked by subcutaneous electronic tags. We show that warm events negatively affect both breeding success and adult survival of this seabird. However, the observed effect is complex because it affects penguins at several spatio/temporal levels. Breeding reveals an immediate response to forcing during warm phases of El Niño Southern Oscillation affecting food availability close to the colony. Conversely, adult survival decreases with a remote sea-surface temperature forcing (i.e., a 2-year lag warming taking place at the northern boundary of pack ice, their winter foraging place). We suggest that this time lag may be explained by the delay between the recruitment and abundance of their prey, adjusted to the particular 1-year breeding cycle of the king penguin. The derived population dynamic model suggests a 9% decline in adult survival for a 0.26 degrees C warming. Our findings suggest that king penguin populations are at heavy extinction risk under the current global warming predictions.

Contrasting genetic structuring between colonies of the World’s smallest penguin, Eudyptula minor (Aves: Spheniscidae)

The Little Penguin, Eudyptula minor, is a seabird that nests in colonies throughout New Zealand and southern Australia. Individuals from different colonies in southeast Australia differ significantly in morphology and ecology, suggesting that some genetic structuring may exist among colonies. In contrast, the marking of individuals with flipper bands has revealed some, albeit infrequent, movement between colonies. To determine the extent of genetic structuring, we tested the null hypothesis of substantial gene flow within southeast Australia by examining patterns of genetic variation across seven colonies separated by up to 1,500 km. Phylogeographic structuring was absent for mitochondrial control region sequences (2–3 individuals per colony). Microsatellite allele frequencies at five loci and mitochondrial haplotype frequencies (50 individuals per colony) were also homogenous among the majority of colonies sampled, although two colonies at the western periphery of the sampling range were distinct from those to the east. The genetic homogeneity among the majority of colonies can be explained by low but consistent contemporary gene flow among them, or a recent founder event in Bass Strait following the last marine transgression. The genetic break towards the western end of the sampling distribution appears best explained by differences in sea surface temperature and, consequentially breeding phenology, the latter hindering genetically effective migration.

Effects of Flipper Bands on Foraging Behavior and Survival of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis Adeliae)

Abstract Since the 1950s, flipper bands have been used widely to mark penguins (Spheniscidae), but not without concerns regarding possible negative effects on survival and fitness. As part of a demographic study of Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) in the western Ross Sea, Antarctica, we investigated effects of flipper bands on foraging-trip duration and food loads, as well as apparent survival, during four breeding seasons (2000-2003), using mark-recapture and radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. Foraging-trip durations were ∼8% (3.5 h) longer, on average, for banded compared with unbanded birds, but the effect varied among years. Food loads did not differ between banded and unbanded birds, but males carried heavier food loads than females. Flipper bands decreased apparent annual survival by 11–13% during 2000-2003, but over a longer time period (1996-2003) we observed high annual variability, including years of high survival for banded birds. Males had slightly higher survival than females in both banded and unbanded birds. Mechanisms resulting in band effects on foraging behavior and survival, the variable effect of bands by season, and the potential ameliorating effect of age or experience on the effects of bands need further investigation in Adélie and other penguin species. We recognize a need to understand and balance the negative consequences of flipper bands for penguins against the beneficial gains in information associated with their use. Effets du Baguage à l'Aileron sur le Comportement de Recherche Alimentaire et la Survie de Pygoscelis adeliae

EFFECTS OF FLIPPER BANDS ON FORAGING BEHAVIOR AND SURVIVAL OF ADÉLIE PENGUINS (PYGOSCELIS ADELIAE)

Abstract Since the 1950s, flipper bands have been used widely to mark penguins (Spheniscidae), but not without concerns regarding possible negative effects on survival and fitness. As part of a demographic study of Adelie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) in the western Ross Sea, Antarctica, we investigated effects of flipper bands on foraging-trip duration and food loads, as well as apparent survival, during four breeding seasons (2000-2003), using mark-recapture and radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. Foraging-trip durations were ∼8% (3.5 h) longer, on average, for banded compared with unbanded birds, but the effect varied among years. Food loads did not differ between banded and unbanded birds, but males carried heavier food loads than females. Flipper bands decreased apparent annual survival by 11–13% during 2000-2003, but over a longer time period (1996-2003) we observed high annual variability, including years of high survival for banded birds. Males had slightly higher survival than femal...

A new application for transponders in studying penguins

Abstract We developed an identification setup enabling automatic detection of the passage of free-living King Penguins implanted with small radio frequency transponders at Possession Island, Crozet Archipelago. An unique feature of the system is the use of antennas allowing automatic detection and identification on pathways up to 8-m wide without the use of flipper bands. We present results on demographic parameters of the King Penguin, and we found an unexpectedly survival rate of immature penguins. Such an identification system can be used for other birds, mammals, or reptiles that use regular pathways.

Long–term effects of flipper bands on penguins

Changes in seabird populations, and particularly of penguins, offer a unique opportunity for investigating the impact of fisheries and climatic variations on marine resources. Such investigations often require large-scale banding to identify individual birds, but the significance of the data relies on the assumption that no bias is introduced in this type of long-term monitoring. After 5 years of using an automated system of identification of king penguins implanted with electronic tags (100 adult king penguins were implanted with a transponder tag, 50 of which were also flipper banded), we can report that banding results in later arrival at the colony for courtship in some years, lower breeding probability and lower chick production. We also found that the survival rate of unbanded, electronically tagged king penguin chicks after 2-3 years is approximately twice as large as that reported in the literature for banded chicks.