It seems like the pigeon lady from Home Alone 2 might have been on to something. There may be a simple solution to aid decreasing seabird population— feed them. Simone Vincenzi of the University of California, Santa Cruz, along with her colleagues, started researching the black-legged kittiwakes. They began by supplementing the diets of the birds on Middleton Island, off the coast of Alaska. The odd thing about kittiwakes on Middleton Island is their breeding spot. While most kittiwakes breed off the side of cliffs, the ones in Middleton Island breed inside an abandoned U.S. Air Force radar tower, according to Science News. Food shortages and habitat changes in an 18-year span have decreased the population of kittiwakes on Middleton Island by more than 140,000.
This is a long-term study for the researchers, as kittiwakes can live up to 25 years, according to PLOS. Many of the birds that the researchers were feeding since the study began are still alive. The group has come to terms with some positive data to convey to this point.
One of their findings shows that just feeding the birds extra food was not enough to overcome any natural decrease in the availability of food. The number of fledglings per nest went down in years that the kittiwakes' natural food source, which is fish, was low, even if extra food was given, according to the study. On the flip side of this, those fledglings that received extra food grew faster than those that did not receive extra food.
When it came to breeding, more unfed birds returned to the tower every year than those that were fed. The researchers believe that is due to supplementing the nestlings food. They think that nestlings who received extra food often survived early on, but after going out to fend for themselves, were unable to make it long-term.
As a whole, the supplemented nests produced more breeding birds, Science News reports.
"Food supplementation might be among the few conservation measures that ... can help endangered species or populations when facing a strong decline in productivity," the researchers wrote.
