Swirling flight of a seabird caught in a huge typhoon high over mainland Japan

Abstract
Catastrophic weather events influence the movement of wild animals. In particular, airborne animals such as birds and insects are expected to occasionally face challenging flights because of unfavorable atmospheric currents such as hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons. The frequency of intense storms has increased and is predicted to further increase due to climate change. Consequently, it is essential to understand how volant animals survive and navigate under such unusual conditions and evaluate how the increasing frequency of severe storms affects wildlife. However, information on the behavioral reactions of animals to extreme weather is still limited given the unpredictability of its occurrence. Bio-logging studies on seabirds have provided some insights: adult red-footed boobies and great frigatebirds avoid cyclones by staying in the breeding colony or circumventing the moving cyclones while climbing to higher altitudes, and Eastern brown pelicans tend to be inactive during the passage of a cyclone. Additionally, some seabird species move toward and stay within the eye of the storms rather than circumventing them probably to avoid being blown by strong winds. Here, I report on a rare case that implies the upper limit of the seabird capacity to tolerate a storm. A GPS-equipped streaked shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas) was apparently caught in a huge typhoon, showing swirling flight high over the mainland of Japan. It finally came through without landfalls when the typhoon returned to the sea.

PUBLICATION AVAILABLE AT: Swirling flight of a seabird caught in a huge typhoon high over mainland Japan – Shiomi – 2023 – Ecology – Wiley Online Library