Status
Pink-footed Shearwaters are listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Threatened by Canada and Vulnerable by Chile. The species is also listed as a Species of Common Conservation Concern by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). In 2007, Canada and Chile created national conservation plans for the species. The international Convention on Migratory Species lists the Pink-footed Shearwater in Appendix I.

Pink-footed Shearwaters are confronted by threats both on the breeding colonies and at sea. These factors have a cumulative effect on the population, although their impacts have not been well determined.

Entrance to an underground nesting burrow. Pink-footed shearwater footprints and guano are visible in front of the burrow, indicating this burrow has been used recently. Burrows are easily crushed by cattle and humans if trampled on, especially in degraded habitat without vegetative cover and root structure.
Photo: Peter Hodum

Principal colony-based threats:

1. Predation by non-native mammals (feral cats, coatimundis, rats) in the breeding colonies
2. Competition with non-native European rabbits for breeding burrows
3. Habitat destruction and alteration in the breeding colonies
4. Increased soil erosion through herbivory by non-native mammals (cattle, goats)
5. Chick harvest on Isla Mocha

Principal at-sea threats:

1. Potential bycatch in fisheries
2. Potential competition with fisheries for prey resources
3. Plastic debris and contaminants in ocean waters

Community activities
Since 2002, the Juan Fernández Islands Conservancy (JFIC) has been working closely with the island community and the Corporación Nacional Forestal, the Chilean agency charged with administering national parks and reserves. JFIC has developed educational resources for the local school, helped develop and support an environmental education program for island children, and given community talks about research and conservation.

International conservations:
Challenges and opportunities
Because of its highly migratory life cycle, efforts to conserve Pink-footed Shearwaters must transcend national boundaries. Not only do shearwaters need to have intact and safe habitat in which to breed, but they also require safe areas at sea in which to forage during the breeding season and to migrate and spend the winter during the non-breeding season. Thus, effectively conserving the species will require complementary efforts by multiple countries in both North and South America. Although daunting, such large-scale conservation challenges also present opportunities to develop closer international cooperation and awareness of how countries are truly connected by the species which move freely amongst them. The Pink-footed Shearwater’s travels span the Americas and, thus, can serve as a cultural and conservation link between countries and hemispheres.

Image from the infra-red burrow camera showing an adult bird sitting on a nest.
Photo: Peter Hodum

Conservation successes
After four years of control efforts, the Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF) successfully eradicated non-native European rabbits on Isla Santa Clara in October 2003. Breeding activity by shearwaters has increased significantly since the eradication, with the percentage of active burrows increasing from an average of 43% to approximately 60%.

Cattle grazing and traveling over Pink-footed Shearwater nesting burrows. After residents learned that shearwaters need stable, undisturbed soil, they now use fences to keep cattle out of sensitive areas.
Photo: Peter Hodum

In 2003, the Juan Fernández Islands Conservancy (JFIC), in collaboration with the Municipality of Juan Fernández, submitted a successful proposal to have a remnant shearwater colony on the edge of the archipelago’s only town designated as a federal reserve. This small colony was historically considerably larger but declined significantly, presumably due to increased disturbance as the town grew and developed. However, a small number of active burrows remain, with chicks successfully fledging each year. The goal for the reserve is that it will serve as an effective education and conservation resource, allowing a large number of people to actively learn about local biology and conservation as well as participate in nest monitoring and vegetation restoration projects within the reserve.

Until the late 1990s, cattle were largely unrestricted in their movements on Robinson Crusoe despite the island’s designation as national park. However, CONAF has since built a series of fences that restrict cattle to a few sectors of the island, thereby eliminating the impacts of cattle on all but one shearwater colony. The long-term goal is to exclude cattle from this last colony.

Pink-footed Shearwaters killed by cats. They do not have natural defenses against introduced mammal predators on land. The town has begun a program to neuter pets and evaluate the feral populations of cats.
Photo: Peter Hodum

As on many islands throughout the globe, feral cats have had a significant impact on native wildlife on the Juan Fernández Islands. Research on Robinson Crusoe has demonstrated predation by feral cats on Pink-footed Shearwaters in their breeding colonies. Recognizing the impacts of cats not only on shearwaters but also on other native birds, including the critically endangered Juan Fernández firecrown, the island community is now working cooperatively with CONAF and JFIC to implement cat control and sterilization programs. It is hoped that this program will decrease the cat population overall and result in fewer feral cats on the island.