Northern giant petrel

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Northern giant petrel
Macronectes halli -Godthul, South Georgia, British Overseas Territories, UK -flying-8.jpg
Flying over Godthul, South Georgia, British Overseas Territories
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Procellariidae
Genus: Macronectes
Species:
M. halli
Binomial name
Macronectes halli
Mathews, 1912
Northern Giant Petrel ebird data map.png
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The northern giant petrel (Macronectes halli), also known as Hall's giant petrel, is a large, predatory seabird of the southern oceans. Its range overlaps broadly with the range of the related southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus), albeit slightly further to the north.

Contents

Taxonomy

The northern giant petrel was formally described in 1912 by the Australian born ornithologist Gregory Mathews as a subspecies of the southern giant petrel with the trinomial name Macronectes giganteus halli. The specific epithet halli was chosen to honour the Australian ornithologist Robert Hall who had described the birds breeding on the Kerguelen Islands. [2] [3] The northern giant petrel is now considered to be a separate species and has the binomial name Macronectes halli. It is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. [4] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek makros meaning "great" and nēktēs meaning "swimmer". [5] The name "petrel" refers to the Biblical account of Saint Peter walking on water, [6] referring to the way these birds run on top of the water as they are getting airborne. [7]

The two giant petrel species make up the genus Macronectes . They belong to the order Procellariiformes, the tube-nosed seabirds or petrels. All tube-noses have tubular nostrils, and all those in the family Procellariidae, the true petrels, have their nostrils united along the top of the bill. Procellariform birds have between seven and nine distinct horny plates for their bill, and in petrels one of these plates forms the hooked portion of their upper bill called the maxillary unguis. They produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides that is stored in the proventriculus. This can be sprayed out of their mouths as a defence against predators as well as an energy rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights. [8] Finally, they also have a salt gland that is situated above the nasal passage and helps desalinate their bodies, due to the high amount of sea water that they imbibe. It excretes a concentrated saline solution from their nostrils. [9]

Description

Immature northern giant petrel in flight. Macronectes halli immature in flight - SE Tasmania.jpg
Immature northern giant petrel in flight.
On Salisbury Plain, South Georgia, British Overseas Territories Macronectes halli -Salisbury Plain, South Georgia, British Overseas Territories, UK-8.jpg
On Salisbury Plain, South Georgia, British Overseas Territories

The northern giant petrel averages 90 cm (35 in) in length, with a range of 80 to 95 cm (31 to 37 in), possessing a wingspan of 150 to 210 cm (59 to 83 in). Size is somewhat variable and this species is broadly the same size as its southern sister species. The largest-bodied colony is in the South Georgia Islands, where 56 males averaged 4.9 kg (11 lb) and 43 females average 3.72 kg (8.2 lb). [10] The smallest-bodied are on the Chatham Islands, where 19 males averaged 3.66 kg (8.1 lb) and 21 females averaged 2.83 kg (6.2 lb). [11] Overall, weight for the species can range from 2.5 to 5.8 kg (5.5 to 12.8 lb). [10] [11] Its plumage consists of grey-brown body with lighter coloured forehead, sides of face, and chin. Its bill is between 90 and 110 mm (3.5–4.3 in) long, slightly longer on average than the southern giant petrel, and is pinkish yellow with a brown tip. Its eyes are grey. The tarsus of the northern giant petrel is slightly longer on average than the southern species, but the southern has longer wings on average. [11] The juvenile Macronectes halli is entirely dark brown and lightens as it ages. It can be differentiated from Macronectes giganteus by the top of the bill, which on the southern species is green. [12]

Distribution and habitat

The northern giant petrel is pelagic and is found throughout the Southern Ocean north of the Antarctic Convergence Zone, and north through Chile, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, and half of Australia. Over 4,500 pairs nest on islands in the South Georgia group. They also nest on some of the Chatham Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Crozet Islands, Macquarie Island and others. Their overall range is 82,600,000 km2 (31,900,000 sq mi). [12]

Behaviour

Feeding

A northern giant petrel picking a penguin carcass at Godthul, South Georgia Northern Giant Petrel picking at a penguin carcass (5751643234).jpg
A northern giant petrel picking a penguin carcass at Godthul, South Georgia
Two giant petrels eating a fur seal carcass at Salisbury Plain, South Georgia. In the rear is a brown skua. Northern Giant Petrel takes its turn at the seal carcass (5724579043).jpg
Two giant petrels eating a fur seal carcass at Salisbury Plain, South Georgia. In the rear is a brown skua.

The northern giant petrel feeds mainly on carrion (dead penguins and pinnipeds), as well as fish, krill, squid, and other cephalopods. They will follow fishing boats and cruise ships, eating any discarded fish and waste from the ships. During the breeding season, males eat more carrion than females, with the females feeding on pelagic sources. They are extremely aggressive and will kill other seabirds (mostly penguin chicks, sick or injured adult penguins and the chicks of other seabirds), even those as large as an albatross. [12]

Northern giant petrels forage in similar locations to southern giant petrels, but at different times due to the earlier breeding season of northern giant petrels. It is thought this temporal segregation in habitat-use reduces interspecific competition, whilst sexual segregation, due to females making more pelagic trips than males, reduces intraspecific competition. [13]

Breeding

Birds start breeding at an average age of ten years, and breed on islands in colonies, which they share with the southern giant petrel. They breed six weeks earlier than their counterparts. [12]

Conservation

Breeding population and trends [12]
LocationPopulationDateTrend
South Georgia 4,500 pairs2005Increasing 30% per 20 yr
Forty-Fours 2,000 pairs2000
Middle Sister 80–100 pairs2000
Kerguelen Islands 1,450–1,800 pairs1989
Crozet Islands 1,300 pairs1989Decreasing
Macquarie Island 1,300 pairsStable or increasing
Prince Edward Islands 650 pairsIncreasing
Antipodes Island 230 pairs2003
Campbell Island 230 pairs2000
Auckland Islands 50 pairs2000
Total17,000–21,0002001Increasing 34% per 10 yr

In a 2001 estimate, this species had between 17,000 and 21,000 mature birds. This number has been increasing over the last two decades, after being expected to decrease. The IUCN thus downgraded them from near threatened to least concern. Recent surveys have shown that most locations are increasing in numbers, except for the Crozet Islands. This is probably due to increases in fish waste, better control on longline fishing, and more carrion from fur seals. [12]

Currently, this bird is listed on CMS Appendix II and ACAP Annex 1. Future plans are to maintain surveys and counting of individuals, research movement and migration, and continue lowering the bycatch deaths by current means and if needed newer measures through CCAMLR, CMS, and FAO. [12]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giant petrel</span> Genus of birds

Giant petrels form a genus, Macronectes, from the family Procellariidae, which consists of two living and one extinct species. They are the largest birds in this family. The living species are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, and though their distributions overlap significantly, with both species breeding on the Prince Edward Islands, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Macquarie Island, and South Georgia, many southern giant petrels nest farther south, with colonies as far south as Antarctica. Giant petrels are extremely aggressive predators and scavengers, inspiring another common name, the stinker. Seamen and whalers used to call the giant petrel as the molly-hawk, gong, glutton bird and nelly. They are the only member of their family that is capable of walking on land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern giant petrel</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey petrel</span> Species of bird

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References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2018). "Macronectes halli". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T22697859A132609000. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22697859A132609000.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Mathews, Gregory M. (1912). The Birds of Australia. Vol. 2. London: Witherby. p. 187.
  3. ↑ Hall, Robert (1900). "Field-notes on the birds of Kerguelen Island". Ibis. 7th series. 6: 1–34 [27].
  4. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Petrels, albatrosses". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  5. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 236. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ↑ Matt. 14:28–31
  7. ↑ Gotch, A. T. (1995)
  8. ↑ Double, M. C. (2003)
  9. ↑ Ehrlich, Paul R. (1988)
  10. 1 2 CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses, 2nd Edition by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (2008), ISBN   978-1-4200-6444-5.
  11. 1 2 3 Carlos, C. J., & Voisin, J. F. (2008). Identifying giant petrels, Macronectes giganteus and M. halli, in the field and in the hand. Publishing Editor, 1.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 BirdLife International (2009)
  13. ↑ Granroth-Wilding, H.M.V.; Phillips, R.A. (2019). "Segregation in space and time explains the coexistence of two sympatric sub-Antarctic petrels". Ibis. 161 (2): 101–116. doi: 10.1111/ibi.12584 .

Sources

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