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Northern Giant-Petrel
(Macronectes halli)
: "Hall's Giant-Petrel", "Giant Fulmar",
"Mother Carey's Goose",
"Nelly",
"Stinker"
Size: 80-95 cm; wing span 1.5-2.1 m
Weight: ca. 3.5-5 kg (male); ca. 2.5-4 kg (female)
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Similar species |
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Physical description |
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Click here for a physical description
Northern Giant-Petrels are big seabirds with a brownish-grey
plumage. Feathers
are mottled with thin grey edges. The face is light-grey, the
bill is yellow, with a reddish-brown tip. The eyes are grey.
Juveniles are all dark-grey.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Northern
Giant-Petrel at Wikipedia .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed based
on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.
The global distribution of the Northern Giant-Petrel is available
HERE
.
The range of the Northern Giant-Petrel is circumpolar, encompassing
all southern oceans
and coastal waters
around the southern continents.
Northern Giant-Petrels reach the Australian
coastline anywhere up to a few hundred km South of the tropic
of Capricorn on both the East coast and the West coast.
Northern Giant-Petrels breed on numerous
offshore islands.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
B. Hensen reports spotting Northern Giant-Petrels off Macquarie
Island in the Southern Ocean in December 1993.
M. Mearns reports spotting a Northern Giant-Petrel in Antarctica
in January 2005.
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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Lateral view of a Northern Giant-Petrel on the ground
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Antarctica, January 2005]
Near-lateral view of a Northern Giant-Petrel in flight
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean, December 1993]
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Food, Diet |
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Next to fresh kills, Northern Giant Petrels also feed on carrion.
Northern Giant-Petrel feeding on an Elephant seal carcass
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean, December 1993]
Northern Giant-Petrel, centre, and three Brown Skuas feeding on a seal carcass
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Macquarie Island, Southern Ocean, December 1993]
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.