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Antarctic Prion (Pachyptila desolata) Alternate name(s): "Dove Prion", "Snowbird", "Whale-bird*", "totorore" (NZ) Size: 25-30 cm; wing span 62-65 cm Weight: 120-175 g

Australia: Family Group 3 Family Group 3 table Southern Fulmar Antarctic Petrel Cape Petrel Mottled Petrel Black-winged Petrel Providence Petrel Grey-faced Petrel Kermadec Petrel Soft-plumaged Petrel Tahiti Petrel Buller's Shearwater Wedge-tailed Shearwater Flesh-footed Shearwater Sooty Shearwater Short-tailed Shearwater Fluttering Shearwater Hutton's Shearwater Little Shearwater Antarctic Prion Slender-billed Prion Fairy Prion Southern Giant-Petrel Northern Giant-Petrel Light-mantled Albatross Wandering Albatross Southern Royal Albatross Northern Royal Albatross Black-browed Albatross Campbell Albatross Buller's Albatross Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Shy Albatross Common Diving-Petrel Wilson's Storm-Petrel New Zealand Storm-Petrel White-faced Storm-Petrel Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Antarctic Prions are the largest of the prions. Their upperparts, including the cap, are bluish-grey, with a dark-grey "M" pattern spanning from one wing tip to the other. In Antarctic Prions this "M" is indistinct. Another distinguishing feature is the conspicuous facial pattern, with a well-defined eye stripe connecting with conspicuous bluish-grey marks on the sides of the neck. Like other prions, Antarctic Prions have a black terminal tail band. The lower side (front) is almost all white. The underwings are off-white to light-grey, except for a thin, faint, white trailing edge and a thin, black outer leading edge. The undertail has a black terminal band and a grey subterminal patch.

Taxonomy, classification See Antarctic Prion at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Antarctic Prion is available HERE . Depending on where they breed, 3 races of Antarctic Prions are distinguished, "desolata", "altera" and "banksi". Altogether, they populate the southern oceans around the globe, up to about the tropic of Capricorn. They are rarely seen closer to the equator. Antarctic Prions reach the coastline of Australia mostly in an area spanning from the SW tip of WA to the NSW Central Coast, including Tasmania. Occasionally they can be seen up to southern QLD off the East coast and off Geraldton, WA, in the West. They are usually not found close to the coastline or along Bass Strait, but near the edge of the continental shelf. Antarctic Prions are pelagic birds that spend most of their time out on the open ocean and in coastal waters. They breed on small offshore islands.

Sightings Click here for sighting information M. Roderick reports spotting Antarctic Prions off Port Stephens, NSW, in June 2013. All photographic and sighting information presented on this page has kindly been contributed by M. Roderick.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Lateral view of an Antarctic Prion, showing a bold dark mark behind the obvious supercilium (more distinct than a Fairy Prion's) and clean white flanks (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Off Port Stephens, NSW, June 2013]

Lateral view of an Antarctic Prion, front right, showing its upperwing pattern, with a Fairy Prion, back left; note the difference in the "M" pattern - the Fairy Prion's is darker and more distinct, while the Antarctic Prions' is less distinct; also discernible is the reduced amount of black in the tail band - note also the larger bill on the Antarctic Prion, as well as the bold white supercilium (photo courtesy of M. Roderick)
[Off Port Stephens, NSW, June 2013]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Sun, 24 February 2019, 20:36 +00:00