Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T00:04:13.857Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reducing the rat threat to island birds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2010

P. J. Moors ,
I. A. E. Atkinson  and
G. H. Sherley
P. J. Moors
Affiliation:
Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union, 21 Gladstone Street, Moonee Ponds, Victoria Australia.
I. A. E. Atkinson
Affiliation:
Landcare Research New Zealand, Private Bag 31902, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
G. H. Sherley
Affiliation:
Department of Conservation, PO Box 10-420, Wellington, New Zealand
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Invasions of alien mammals, particularly predators such as rats Rattus spp., have been a major cause of the disproportionately high number of extinctions of island birds. This paper outlines how introduced rodents affect these birds, describes administrative, management and scientific measures which should be taken to prevent the spread of these mammals to additional islands and to limit their impact, and provides practical information about how to control or eradicate the rodents. We use examples from New Zealand's experiences with islands and rats to illustrate the problems and solutions. The information and recommendations in the paper are directed particularly towards legislators, administrators and managers all over the world who are responsible for the conservation of island faunas. The paper gives examples of rat-free islands deserving the highest level of protection, and a step-by-step checklist for action to minimize the risks of rodent invasion.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bird Conservation International , Volume 2 , Issue 2 , June 1992 , pp. 93 - 114
Copyright
Copyright © Birdlife International 1992

References

Atkinson, I. A. E. (1977) A reassessment of factors, particularly Rattus rattus L., that influenced the decline of endemic forest birds in the Hawaiian Islands. Pac. Sci. 31: 109–133.Google Scholar
Atkinson, I. A. E. (1985) The spread of commensal species of Rattus to oceanic islands and their effects on island avifaunas. Pp. 35–49 in Moors, P. J., ed. Conservation of island birds. Cambridge: International Council for Bird Preservation (Techn. Publ. 3).Google Scholar
Atkinson, I. A. E. (1989) Introduced animals and extinctions. Pp. 54–79 in Western, D. and Pearl, M. C., eds. Conservation for the twenty-first century. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Atkinson, I. A. E. and Bell, B. D. (1973) Offshore and outlying islands. Pp. 372–392 in Williams, G. R., ed. The natural history of New Zealand. Wellington: A. H. and A. W. Reed.Google Scholar
Brooks, J. E. and Rowe, F. P. (1979) Commensal rodent control. World Health Organisation Unpublished Document WHO]VBC/79.726.Google Scholar
Brosset, A. (1963) Statut actuel des mammiferes des lies Galapagos. Mammalia 27: 323–338.Google Scholar
Clarke, D. and Veal, R. (1991) Endemic invertebrates extinct on St Helena. Oryx 25: 184–185.Google Scholar
Crafford, J. E. and Scholtz, C. H. (1987) Quantitative differences between the insect faunas of sub-antarctic Marion and Prince Edward Islands: a result of human intervention? Biol. Conserv. 40: 255–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cree, A., Daugherty, C. H. and Hay, J. M. (in press) Reproduction of a rare New Zealand reptile, the tuatara Sphenodon punctatus, on rat-free and rat-inhabited islands. Conserv. Biol.Google Scholar
Crook, I. G. (1973) The tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus Gray, on islands with and without populations of the Polynesian rat, Rattus exulans (Peale). Proc. New Zealand Ecol. Soc. 20: 115–120.Google Scholar
Cunningham, D. A. and Moors, P. J. (1983) A guide to the identification and collection of New Zealand rodents. New Zealand Wildlife Service Occas. Publ. 4.Google Scholar
Daniel, M. J. and Williams, G. R. (1984) A survey of the distribution, seasonal activity and roost sites in New Zealand bats. New Zealand J. Ecol. 7: 9–25.Google Scholar
Davis, D. E. (1957) The use of food as a buffer in a predator-prey system. J. Mammal. 38: 466–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dubock, A. C. (1984) Pulsed baiting — a new technique for high-potency, slow-acting rodenticides. Pp. 105–142 in Dubock, A. C., ed. Proceedings of a conference on the organisation and practice of vertebrate pest control. Fernhurst, Surrey: ICI Plant Protection Division.Google Scholar
Fisher, H. I. and Baldwin, P. H. (1946) War and the birds on Midway Atoll. Condor 48: 3–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzgerald, B. M. (1978) A proposal for biological control. Pp. 223–227 in Dingwall, P. R., Atkinson, I. A. E., and Hay, C., eds. The ecology and control of rodents in New Zealand nature reserves. Wellington: Department of Lands and Survey (Information Series 4).Google Scholar
Fitzgerald, B. M., Karl, B. J. and Moller, H. (1981) Spatial organisation and ecology of a sparse population of house mice (Mus musculus) in a New Zealand forest. J. Anim. Ecol. 50: 489–518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fleet, R. R. (1972) Nesting success of the Red-tailed Tropicbird on Kure Atoll. Auk 89: 651–659.Google Scholar
Geary, J. M. (1968) Rodent control measures for the protection of aircraft. Pp. 210–213 in Rodents as factors in disease and economic loss. Honolulu: Proceedings of a Conference, Institute of Technical Interchange, Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange between East and West, Honolulu.Google Scholar
Hickson, R. E., Moller, H. and Garrick, A. S. (1986) Poisoning rats on Stewart Island. New Zealand. Ecol. 9: 111–121.Google Scholar
Hindwood, K. A. (1940) The birds of Lord Howe Island. Emu 40: 1–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Honogger, R. E. (1981) List of amphibians and reptiles either known or thought to have become extinct since 1600. Biol. Conserv. 19: 141–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huson, L. W. and Davis, R. A. (1980) Discriminant functions to aid identification of faecal pellets of Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus. J. Stored Prod. Res. 16: 103–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Innes, J. G. and Skipworth, J. P. (1983) Home ranges of ship rats in a small New Zealand forest as revealed by trapping and tracking. New Zealand J. Zool. 10: 99–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, M. S. (1945) Rodent control on Midway Islands. U.S. Naval Med. Bull. 45: 384–398.Google Scholar
King, C. M., ed. (1990) The handbook of New Zealand mammals. Auckland: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
King, C. M. and Edgar, R. L. (1977) Techniques for trapping and tracking stoats (Mustela erminea): a review, and a new system. New Zealand J. Zool. 4: 193–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, W. B. (1985) Island birds: will the future repeat the past? Pp. 3–15 in Moors, P. J., ed. Conservation of island birds. Cambridge: International Council for Bird Preservation (Techn. Publ. 3).Google Scholar
McCormack, G. and Kiinzle, J. (1990) Kakerori, Rarotonga's endangered flycatcher. Rarotonga: Cook Islands Conservation Service.Google Scholar
Meads, M. J., Walker, K. J. and Elliott, G. P. (1984) Status, conservation, and management of the land snails of the genus Powelliphanta (Mollusca: Pulmonata). New Zealand J. Zool. 11: 277–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meehan, A. P. (1984) Rats and mice: their biology and control. East Grinstead, England: Rentokil Ltd.Google Scholar
Moors, P. J. (1985) Eradication campaigns against Rattus norvegicus on the Noises Islands, New Zealand, using brodifacoum and 1080. Pp. 143–155 in Moors, P. J., ed. Conservation of island birds. Cambridge: International Council for Bird Preservation (Techn. Pub. 3).Google Scholar
Moors, P. J. and Atkinson, I. A. E. (1984) Predation on seabirds by introduced animals and factors affecting its severity. Pp. 667–690 in Croxall, J. P.Evans, P. G. H., and Schreiber, R. W., eds. Status and conservation of the world's seabirds. Cambridge: International Council for Bird Preservation (Techn. Publ. 2).Google Scholar
Moors, P. J., Atkinson, I. A. E. and Sherley, G. H. (1989) Prohibited immigrants: the rat threat to island conservation. Wellington: World Wide Fund for Nature.Google Scholar
Nelson, L. and Clark, F. W. (1973) Correction for sprung traps in catch effort calculations of trapping results. J. Mammal. 54: 295–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petersen, A. (1979) The breeding birds of Flatey and some adjoining islets in Breidafjordur, NW Iceland. Natturufraedingurinn 49: 229–256.Google Scholar
Suckling, G. C. (1978) A hair sampling tube for the detection of small mammals in trees. Austral. Wildl. Res. 5: 249–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, R. H. (1979) How the Macquarie Island parakeet became extinct. New Zealand J. Ecol. 2: 42–45.Google Scholar
Taylor, R. H. and Thomas, B. W. (1989) Eradication of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) from Hawea Island, Fiordland, using brodifacoum. New Zealand J. Ecol. 12: 23–32.Google Scholar
Thomas, B. W. (1985) Observations on the Fiordland skink (Leiolopisma acrinasum Hardy). Pp. 17–22 in Grigg, G.Shine, R. and Ehmann, H., eds. The biology of Australasian frogs and reptiles. Chipping Norton, NSW, Australia: Surrey Beatty and Sons.Google Scholar
Thomas, B. and Taylor, R. (1988) Rat eradication in Breaksea Sound. Forest and Bird 19: 30–34.Google Scholar
Towns, D. R. (1991) Response of lizard assemblages in the Mercury Islands, NewZealand, to removal of an introduced rodent: the kiore (Rattus exulans). J. R. Soc. New Zealand 21: 119–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wace, N. M. (1986) The rat problem on oceanic islands — research is needed. Oryx 20: 79–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warham, J. and Wilson, G. J. (1982) The size of the Sooty Shearwater population at the Snares Islands, New Zealand. Notornis 29: 23–30.Google Scholar
Whitaker, A. H. (1973) Lizard populations on islands with and without Polynesian rats, Rattus exulans (Peale). Proc. New Zealand Ecol. Soc. 20: 121–130.Google Scholar
Worthy, T. H. (1987a) Palaeoecological information concerning members of the frog genus Leiopelma: Leiopelmatidae in New Zealand. J. R. Soc. New Zealand 17: 409–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Worthy, T. H. (1987b) Osteological observations on the larger species of the skink Cyclodina and the subfossil occurrence of these and the gecko Hoplodactylus duvaucelii in the North Island, New Zealand. New Zealand J. Zool. 14: 219–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yosida, T. H. (1980) Cytogenetics of the black rat. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.Google Scholar