ARTIC JAEGER

281          ARTIC JAEGER        Stercorarius parasiticus

Australia          (251)

Ranges all around the coast of Australia during Oct-Nov. and leaves in April. Breeds in Arctic. 41-46 cm including tail of 10 cm or more, span 1.1-1.25 m.

WILSON'S STORM-PETREL

280            WILSON'S STORM-PETREL           Oceanites oceanicus

Australia       (250)

15-19 cm, span 38-42 cm. One of the world's most abundant and widespread birds. Migratory. Found off the coast except in north, and increasingly further offshore in northern Queensland.

Photographed on Kiama pelagic, June 2016

BLACK PETREL

279          BLACK PETREL             Procellaria parkinsoni

Australia       (249)

46 cm, span c. 1m. Summer visitor to off se shore, becoming more common visitor..

SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER

278            SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER          Puffinus tenuirostris

Australia          (248)

Also known as Slender-billed Shearwater, Bass Strait or Tasmanian Muttonbird. Breeds in tens of millions in islands from Recherche Arch (WA) east through SA, Vict, Ras, and Bass Strait, n. to Broughton Is. (NSW).Migrates to N. Pacific via n. of NZ and Japan, and returning via w. coast of N. America. 40-43 cm, span 90 cm.

Photographed on Kiama Pelagic, June 2016

WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER

277        WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER               Puffinus pacificus

Australia            (247)

Common 'mutton bird' of warmer coastal regions. Range off the shore of east and west coast,but not across north or south, or Tasmania. 38-46 cm, span about 1 m.

WANDERING ALBATROSS

276        WANDERING ALBATROSS          Diomedea exulans

Australia          (246)

Longest-winged ocean bird. Range around southern oceans from Fremantle (WA) to Whitsundays (Q). 1.1-1.35 m, wingspan 2.5-3.5 m.

Juvenile, photographed on Kiama pelagic, July 2016

CAMPBELL ALBATROSS

275           CAMPBELL ALBATROSS         Thalassarche impavida

Australia          (245)

Also known as Campbell mollymawk. It breeds on Christmas Island and the associated islet of Jeanette Marie. Juveniles and breeders will go through south Australia water, the Tasman Sea and south-western Pacific.Weigh 3.21 kg and is 88cm long. Average life expectancy is 28 years but some have lived to be more than 50.

SHY ALBATROSS

274         SHY ALBATROSS            Diomedea cauta

Australia        (244)

Also known as White-capped Albatross and Mollymawk. It ranges around the ocean and all coast lines below Tropic of Capricorn. Largest of the Albatrosses, 90-100 cm, wingspan 2.1 to 2.6 m. The only Albatross with Australian breeding stations, at Albatross Rock in Bass Strait, the Mewstone and Pedra Branca, in s. Tasmania.

NORTHERN ROYAL ALBATROSS

273       NORTHERN ROYAL ALBATROSS      Diomedea epomophora

Australia                 (243)

1-1.2 m; wingspan 3-3.5 m. Sometimes divided into Northern Royal Albatross and Southern Royal Albatross. Found off the shores of southern Australia, Victoria and southern NSW.

              

BLACK-BROWED ALBATROSS

272      BLACK-BROWED ALBATROSS             Diomedea melanophris

Australia        (242)
 
Also known as Mollymawk. 84-94 cm, wingspan 2.1-2.5 m. Most abundant of Albatrosses, breeds all around the Polar region. Range around Australia coastal regions up as far as Tropic of Capricorn.