Birdwatchers across Vancouver Island are getting an unexpected treat this summer as a number of rare seabirds turn up along the coast. Among the most unusual visitors is the Nazca booby, a seabird typically found in Mexico and farther south. One was recently spotted near Smith Island in Washington state, drawing birders onto the water for a chance to see it. Closer to home, a Cocos booby was spotted in Vancouver, while several elegant terns have been attracting attention near Port Renfrew. For Ann Nightingale, a volunteer with Rocky Point Bird Observatory, sightings like these are a rare opportunity to see unusual species close to home. Nightingale recently travelled to Port Renfrew and was rewarded with sightings of several of the visiting birds. “I’ve seen them elsewhere, but not here,” she said. The unusual sightings are being helped along by ocean conditions associated with El Niño, a natural climate pattern that can bring warmer than usual ocean temperatures to parts of the Pacific. That warmer water can change the availability and distribution of food, which in turn can influence where seabirds are found. “The water brings with it food. The food brings with it the birds that eat the food,” Nightingale said. The Nazca booby is just one of several southern species being reported in the region. Birdwatchers have also spotted blue-footed and red-footed boobies, as well as albatrosses and a Hawaiian petrel. But the unusual conditions can also create challenges for birds that depend on cold water ecosystems. “When this happens, birds that are relying on cold water fish, for instance, find themselves not being able to get enough food,” Nightingale said. She said previous warm water events have been linked to nesting failures among rhinoceros auklets and other seabirds that breed near the northern end of Vancouver Island. The current sightings are happening outside the breeding season, so Nightingale said the impact on nesting birds may not be as significant this year. While warm water events such as El Niño occur naturally, Nightingale said climate change is contributing to rising temperatures and more frequent episodes of warm water moving north. For birders, however, the unusual visitors offer a chance to see species that would normally be well beyond their backyard binoculars. And the window may be temporary. The southern visitors are expected to head back south as conditions change this fall.
