**Abstract:**

The Yelkouan Shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan) is a Mediterranean endemism, classified as Vulnerable following its decreasing population trend. Between 27-60% of the 21-36,000 pairs estimated at the global level breed at a single site of ca. 6 sqkm, the island of Tavolara (Italy 40°54'N 09°42'E). GPS tracking of 22 adults (60 tracks) during the 2011-2015 breeding seasons describe a trans-national foraging range which stretches across the NW Mediterranean Sea, between the western coast of Sardinia island, Italy (39°50'N 08°13'E) and the Gulf of Lion, France (43°00'N 03°40'E). Within this wide area, core foraging clusters obtained from tracks during incubation (N=44) and chick-rearing (N=16) overlap areas of primary productivity blooms, which in the Mediterranean typically lie in coastal areas close to river estuaries. In particular, the Gulf of Lion (Rhone river mouth) represents the final destination of all trips during chick-rearing. The Mediterranean sea is featured by a generally low primary production and estuaries represent seasonally-predictable productivity hotspots during boreal spring and summer. Foraging trips entail long-distance flights lasting up to 10 days, and their duration increases during the breeding season (median value during incubation 2.0 days, vs 6.5 days during chick growth), when food requirements are at their maximum and areas rich of food are far from the colony and very localised.

**Authors:**

Marco Zenatello¹, Francesco Pezzo¹, Giulia Cerritelli², Augusto Navone³, Dimitri Giunchi², Giovanna Spano³, Enrica Pollonara², Alessandro Massolo², Anna Gagliardo², Nicola Baccetti¹

¹ISPRA (Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), ²University of Pisa, ³Marine Protected Area Tavolara - Punta Coda Cavallo

The largest colony in the smallest kingdom of the world: the tale of Yelkouan shearwaters from Tavolara island (Italy)

**Abstract:**

The nonbreeding distribution and activity patterns of Yelkouan shearwaters (Puffinus yelkouan) breeding at the most important breeding site, globally, of this endemic Mediterranean species (Tavolara island, Italy 40°54'N 09°42'E) were investigated using combined geolocator-immersion loggers in 2010-2011. Thirteen breeding adults were tagged in early incubation with leg-mounted loggers in March 2010, of which 11 (85%) were retrieved in February-March 2011, at the onset of the following breeding season. There was extensive individual variation in migration patterns: five birds (4 females and one unsexed bird) performed a longitudinal migration to and from the Black Sea, and used stopovers areas in the Strait of Sicily (Italy), Gulf of Gabès (Tunisia) or the Aegean Sea (Greece). Six birds (four females and two males) remained in the Mediterranean basin throughout the nonbreeding period. The ratio of short:long distance migrants was intermediate between populations of Yelkouan shearwaters tracked previously from France and Malta, suggesting an east-west trend in relative use of the Black Sea during the nonbreeding period. Birds spent 133-222 days away from the colony. Immersion data indicate that they were always at sea, and did not return to land in the period between departure from the colony (median 4 July, range 14 May-17 July) and return from migration (median 7 December, range 15 November 2010-8 February 2011). Based on our results and those from French and Maltese colonies, Yelkouan shearwaters show high individual variability in non-breeding distributions and stopover areas, which has implications for their vulnerability to the diverse threats in the Mediterranean, including from fisheries.

**Authors:**

Marco Zenatello¹, Paola Aragno¹, Caitlin Frankish², Giovanna Spano³, Augusto Navone³, Richard Phillips⁴, Nicola Baccetti¹

¹ISPRA (Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), ²University of Cambridge (UK), ³Marine Protected Area Tavolara - Punta Coda Cavallo, ⁴British Antarctic Survey

Nonbreeding distributions and activity patterns of Yelkouan shearwaters from the world s largest colony, Tavolara Island (Italy)

**Session Replay:** [Click here](https://zoom.us/rec/share/ZOWIVzitGn-ZShaEuySCXzovOMV45lkgjet2zDmrzIgKpB5tu31Cz2F15KZfKF_a.dSrjwzDIAJkP1qNh?startTime=1633434494000)<br><br>

<i>**Session Chair: **Natalia Rosciano </i><br><br> 
<i>**Technical Session Chair: **Brad Wilkinson </i><br><br> 


Foraging Ecology I

technical paper

Welcome Seabirders!  

Welcome to Virtual World Seabird Conference 3 - vWSC3! Whether you are in your office or lab, at home, in a coffee shop or bar poaching some wifi, or at a remote field site or research vessel – we are very excited to welcome you to the third ever World Seabird Conference. 

We would like to thank ALL of you for being so patient as WSC3 was scheduled, postponed, rescheduled, revised to virtual, and scheduled again. Throughout all those iterations there was one message that remained perfectly clear – seabirders were eager to meet and share their science. If we could not meet in person then virtual it would have to be, but a 3rd WSC was something everyone wanted. That support and commitment helped the WSU Board of Directors and Member Societies sort through all of the challenges they faced to plan and hold this conference. 

The list of those that need to be thanked is long and, while we plan on recognizing many during the live closing plenary, it is important to do so here in writing as well. 

The Australasian Seabird Group was our Local Host for our plan to meet in Hobart, Tasmania. They invested substantial time and effort to find venues and plan events that we unfortunately were not able to visit. Nonetheless we appreciate their work on behalf of WSC3 and encourage all of you to thank them when you see their members in Gathertown or elsewhere during our virtual meeting. Their willingness to host created the initial excitement for WSC3 and without that our vWSC would not have been possible.

We also wish to thank the Science Program Committee, the Virtual Committee, and the Early Career Scientist Committee for their hard work planning the logistics, events, and schedule for vWSC3. These committees also had to deal with changing parameters and short timelines that made what is always a challenging task even more challenging. The Travel Awards Committee also invested time and effort in developing procedures for awarding travel funds that ultimately would not be implemented. 

Our ability to shift from an in-person to a virtual meeting, and to do so in a way that would be financially feasible, was due to the effective efforts of The International Fundraising Committee and to our financial sponsors. The IFC raised funds to support WSC3 and then, through the good relationships they built with sponsors, ensured we could re-envision how those funds could be used to support a virtual conference that would be affordable and high-quality.

We all owe the WSU Board of Directors and the Representatives of the Member Societies a great deal of thanks. They are the ones who manage the WSU and, for the past 18 months, have had to have a series of challenging meetings and conversations, have had to make a series of difficult choices, have had to do all of that while considering the short- and long-term health of WSU and the World Seabird Conferences, and did this while also managing their own challenges at their day jobs. We are grateful for their diligence, patience, foresight, and throughout all of the meetings, their collegiality. Also – a 6-year term is quite a commitment!

There would not be a WSC3 without a successful WSC1 and WSC2. Thanks go to the Pacific Seabird Group for their support of WSC1 in Victoria, Canada, and to the African Seabird Group for their support of WSC2 in Cape Town, South Africa. In each of these endeavors and for our current conference we were fortunate to work with a dependable and trustworthy partner in Podium Conferences. Michelle Smith and Marischal de Armond have become valued members of our team and have not only helped us plan conferences but have assisted and advised the WSU Chairs and Board on issues above and beyond conference planning. 

As we embark on our vWSC3 week we extend to all of you our thanks for showing up, for being patient, and most importantly for the work you do with seabirds. We are all part of a unique, global community that shares an interest, a fascination, and a passion for birds that make a living in our world’s oceans. We have advanced the science, conservation, and management of seabirds as well the ecosystems they inhabit. We are consistently impressed and motivated by the work you do. 

The WSU formed in 2010 because we saw the need for a global organization to address challenges at a global level. Over the past 11 years WSU has grown, adapted, and evolved to become the community that this week is making vWSC3 a reality. Enjoy the week, appreciate and support the friends and colleagues you have made in the community, and if you see us in a virtual hallway please stop and say hello! 

Thank you for the opportunity to serve all of you and the WSU over the past few years,

Nicholas Carlile, Interim Chair, WSU<br>
Patrick Jodice, 2nd Chair of the WSU<br><br>

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3rd World Seabird Conference

Join us for four days of science, networking and virtual engagement with delegates from around the world!

Marco Zenatello

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The largest colony in the smallest kingdom of the world: the tale of Yelkouan shearwaters from Tavolara island (Italy)

Nonbreeding distributions and activity patterns of Yelkouan shearwaters from the world s largest colony, Tavolara Island (Italy)

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