Nine To Noon Seabird chicks die as parents fly far away for food
Mar 24, 2026
Brendan Dunphy, seabird researcher and associate professor studying marine heatwaves. Isabella Brown, MSc field researcher tracking diving petrels and shearwaters. They talk about dramatic drops in breeding success, parents foraging hundreds of kilometres for food, how marine heatwaves shrink prey availability, and what shifting fish distributions mean for seabird populations.
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Shearwater Colony Saw Half Usual Breeding Success
- Isabella Brown observed a fluttering shearwater colony with a 50% breeding success rate this season.
- Parents abandoned eggs or chicks and sometimes returned after 12 days foraging, compared with near-nightly returns in 2019.
Parents Flying Hundreds Of Kilometres To Feed Chicks
- GPS tracking showed adult birds sometimes flew over 200 kilometres from nests to find food.
- That equated to round trips up to 400 km, far beyond their normal ~30 km daily foraging range.
Egg Abandonment Caused Delayed Hatching
- Isabella Brown reported both egg abandonment and delayed hatching due to prolonged adult absences.
- Extended incubation gaps slowed embryo development and produced late-hatching chicks with poorer prospects.