Conservation of marine birds of northern North America: / papers from the international symposium held at the Seattle Hyatt House

by Unknown

A British ringed gannet from Ailsa Craig (55°12'N, 5°07'W) was found nesting when 4 years old in the Nordmjele colony in 1970 (Brun 1972), giving direct evidence that immigration from colonies in Great Britain (Scotland) still takes place.

Table 5. Status of the common murre (Uria aalge) in Norway (cf. Fig. 2).

Locality		Last census		Previous census		Reference
		Year	No. of breeding pairs	Year	No. of breeding pairs
1.	Utsira	1970	1	1950	10	Holgersen 1951
2.	Utvær	1970	17	1948	55	Willgohs 1952
3.	Veststeinen	1970	29	1950	40	Willgohs 1952
4.	Klovningen	1970	35	1950	20	Willgohs 1952
5.	Einevarden	1970	30	1952	25	Willgohs 1955
6.	Runde	1974	6,000	1963	7,600	Brun 1969a
7.	Storholmen	1970	8	—	—
8.	Røst	1974	6,800	1964	9,700	Brun 1969a
9.	Værøy	1974	1,750	1964	2,400	Brun 1969a
10.	Nykvåg	1974	350	1966	430	Brun 1969a
11.	Bleik	1974	60	1952	90	Regnell 1957
				1964	75	Brun 1969a
12.	Sør-Fugløy	1974	10	1940	10,000	Soot-Ryen 1941
				1961	4,000	Brun 1963
				1966	1,100	Brun 1969a
13.	Nord-Fugløy	1967	9,000	1963	15,000	Lütken 1965
14.	Loppa	1974	500	1966	800	Brun 1969a
15.	Hjelmsøy	1974	70,000	1964	110,000	Brun 1965
				1967	95,000	Brun 1969a
16.	Gjesværstappene	1973	580	1967	750	Brun 1969a
17.	Sværholtklubben	1973	20	1966	25	Brun 1969a
18.	Omgangsstauran	1973	70	1967	85	Brun 1969a
19.	Syltefjorden	1974	9,000	1966	12,300	Brun 1969a
20.	Hornøy	1974	500	1964	730	Brun 1969a
21.	Reinøy	1974	110	1964	160	Brun 1969a
22.	Kjøfjord	1970	21	—	—
23.	Skogerøy	1970	8	1967	6	Brun 1969a
24.	Sagfjord	1970	9	1967	12	Brun 1969a
25.	Kobbholmfjorden	1970	2	1967	1	Brun 1969a

Estimates of Total Seabird Population in Norway

In addition to the more detailed censuses of the cliff-breeding species dealt with so far, notes have been made on all seabirds observed during numerous flights along the Norwegian coast. Although a first attempt at putting a figure to all seabird species in Norway may be somewhat premature, it is believed that even an extrapolation combined with an educated guess is of some value until more accurate censuses covering the whole coast can be made. Although the data (Table 1) are arranged in the same way as the results from "Operation Seafarer" in the British Isles (Cramp et al. 1974), it must be stressed that the accuracy of the Norwegian figures, at least for the non-cliff-breeding birds, is far inferior to the very fine British data. The table includes data for two petrels (Hydrobates pelagicus, Oceanodroma leucorrhoa), which in Norway breed on Røst (well north of the Arctic Circle), where they have adapted to a delayed breeding season with egg laying in August because of the conflict of their nocturnal habits with the continuous daylight due to the midnight sun. Of the present population trends that are given for each species in Table 1, all auks except the black guillemot (Cepphus grylle) are decreasing, whereas the gulls, the gannets, and the fulmars are increasing.

Table 6. Population trends in colonies of the common murre (Uria aalge) in Norway. Numbers for 1964 and 1974 are, when not censused those years, extrapolated from present trends, using estimated yearly decrease or increase from all available census figures.

Locality		Number of breeding pairs[77]		Percentage yearly decrease (-) or increase (+)
		1964	1974
1.	Utsira	2	1	-12.2
2.	Utvær	23	14	-5.5
3.	Veststeinen	32	27	-1.6
4.	Klovningen	30	39	+2.8
5.	Einevarden	28	31	+1.0
6.	Runde	7,438	6,000	-2.2
7.	Storholmen	9	7	(-2.2)[78],[79]
8.	Røst	9,700	6,800	-3.6
9.	Værøy	2,400	1,750	-3.2
10.	Nykvåg	453	350	-2.6
11.	Bleik	75	60	-2.3
12.	Sør-Fugløy	1,844	10	-68.5
13.	Nord-Fugløy	13,201	3,681	-13.6
14.	Loppa	900	500	-6.1
15.	Hjelmsøy	110,000	70,000	-4.6
16.	Gjesværstappen	853	556	-4.4
17.	Sværholtklubben	27	19	-3.2
18.	Omgangsstauran	94	68	-3.3
19.	Syltefjorden	13,299	9,000	-4.0
20.	Hornøy	730	500	-3.9
21.	Reinøy	160	110	-3.8
22.	Kjøfjord	21	20	(-0.4)[78],[79]
23.	Skogerøy	5	12	+10.1
24.	Sagfjord	16	6	-10.1
25.	Kobbholmfjord	1	5	+26.0
	Total	161,341	99,566	-4.9

Table 7. Status of the thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) in Norway (cf. Fig. 3).

Locality		Year	No. of breeding pairs	Percentage of total Uria population
1.	Vedøy, Røst	1974	15	0.3
2.	Værøy	1966	20	0.9
3.	Hjelmsøy	1974	850	1.2
4.	Gjesværstappene	1973	25	4.3
5.	Syltefjord	1970	90	0.9
6.	Hornøy	1966	55	8.1
7.	Reinøy	1964	1	0.6
8.	Kjøfjord	1970	1	4.8
	Estimated number, Norway, 1974		>1,000	ca. 1.0

Table 8. Status of the razorbill (Alca torda) in Norway (cf. Fig. 4).

Locality		Year	No. of breeding pairs	Percent
1.	Kjør	1970	1	<0.1
2.	Utsira	1970	25	0.1
3.	Utvær	1970	16	0.1
4.	Veststeinen	1970	22	0.1
5.	Klovningen	1970	12	<0.1
6.	Einevarden	1970	45	0.2
7.	Runde	1974	2,800	9.5
8.	Sklinna	1974	15	0.1
9.	Lovunden	1968	8	<0.1
10.	Røst	1974	3,900	13.2
11.	Værøy	1974	800	2.7
12.	Nykvåg	1966	250	0.8
13.	Bleik	1968	28	0.1
14.	Sør-Fugløy	1974	15	0.1
15.	Nord-Fugløy	1967	10,000	33.8
16.	Loppa	1969	750	2.5
17.	Hjelmsøy	1974	7,000	23.7
18.	Gjesvær	1973	2,500	8.5
19.	Sværholtklubben	1973	18	0.1
20.	Omgangsstauran	1973	6	<0.1
21.	Kongsøy	1966	8	<0.1
22.	Syltefjorden	1966	1,200	4.1
23.	Hornøy	1967	65	0.2
24.	Reinøy	1967	55	0.2
25.	Kjøfjord	1970	9	<0.1
26.	Skogerøy	1970	4	<0.1
27.	Jarfjordnes	1970	3	<0.1
	Total		ca. 30,000

Since the coastline of Norway is about the same length as the coastline of Great Britain and Ireland, it is interesting to compare the population figures (Table 12), although the accuracy is very different. Populations of auks and gulls are similar in both areas, but the species composition is different. There are more terns in the British Isles, but skuas (Catharacta skua), shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), and great cormorants (P. carbo) are present in similar numbers. The most striking difference is the very small number of procelli-forms and gannets in Norway compared to Britain and Ireland, where they are almost as numerous as the gulls and the auks.

County	Number of localities	Number of breeding pairs
Nordland	6	140
Møre and Romsdal	7	945
Sogn and Fjordane	2	11
Rogaland	2	2
Total	17	1,098