Attraction of Hawaiian seabirds to lights: conservation efforts and effects of moon phase

Every autumn more than 1,000 fledglings of 3 threatened or endangered procellariiform seabird species are attracted to bright coastal lights on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. These seabirds, apparently on their first flight to the ocean, become disoriented around bright lights and crash into buildings, wires, tall vegetation, and vehicles. Beginning in the early 1960s, this problem became increasingly acute as Kauai's urban areas grew and the number of highintensity lights increased. In response, we initially instructed the public to release fallen seabirds by tossing them into the air near the ocean. Since 1978, however, we asked Kauai residents to collect and turn in the birds at 1 of 12 "shearwater aid stations" that we set up around the island. The principal species involved in fallout is the threatened Newell's race of Townsend's shearwater (Puffinus auricularis newelli) (see Jehl [1982] and Am. Ornithol. Union [1983] for recent taxonomic classification). Newell's shearwaters began turning up under bright lights during the autumn months in the 1950s (Hadley 1961). Thirty-seven birds were collected on Kauai between 1954 and 1961 (King and Gould 1967), and in the autumn of 1967 200 downed shearwaters were found on the grounds of the Kauai Surf Hotel (Sincock and Swedberg 1969). Two other procellariiform species are occasionally downed: the endangered darkrumped petrel (Pterodroma phaeopygia sandwichensis) and the extremely rare bandrumped storm-petrel (Oceanodroma castro cryptoleucura). Here we report the numbers of birds that have been recovered between 1978 and 1985, the noticeable effect of moon phase on seabird fallout, and the seasonality and geographical distribution of fallout.