Seabird Monitoring on Kauai

Project Goal
Archipelago Research and Conservation (ARC) conducts passive acoustic surveys to document patterns of Newell’s Shearwater (Puffinus newelli) and Hawaiian Petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis) activity at breeding sites on nightly and seasonal
scales, detect and quantify activity at exploratory survey points in remote and inaccesible areas, and compare calling rates among survey sites and through time as an index of relative abundance.

Conservation Metrics
Collaborated on the design and implementation of an automated acoustic survey strategy that has allowed ARC to use measures of acoustic abundance to track population trends over time and quantify the impacts of threat mitigation efforts. Our work with ARC over the last 10+ years has demonstrated the utility of passive acoustic monitoring to understand diel, seasonal, and annual patterns and trends in vocal activity and colony occupancy. The seabird conservation activities on Kauai are a model for the positive outcomes that can be created for threatened species when consistent long-term funding is dedicated to their recovery.