Counting 'Invisible' Seabirds at #IAPC7

How do we count seabirds that hide away in burrows underground? Sing to them, and listen for who sings back! That's simple enough, but if you want to use this to survey an island, and calculate a reliable population estimate that's at least two difficulties that have led to issues in past surveys.

As part of the UK's Seabirds Count, I led the design and analysis for the census for two species of burrow-nesting seabirds on Skomer and Skokholm Islands in Wales - Manx Shearwaters and European Storm Petrels - funded by Natural Resources Wales. Ollie Padget (now at Liverpool University), took an interest in the analytical side of call playback data, and after work with Mark Bolton (RSPB), we designed a new toolkit for call playback survey design and data analysis - the Stormie Shiny Apps. Check them out if you're interested in this kind of work, with fewer headaches!

I unveiled the Stormie Apps to the 7th International Albatross and Petrel Conference in Mexico. Many thanks to the organizers for arranging to present remotely… see you next time at #IAPC8. You can view the presentation here: https://youtu.be/SmHFYi4l180?si=ufN5a1TSIXEJ_ytg

Matt Wood