Seabird Sunday ID CHALLENGE 4 October 2020 – Advanced by Karen Dick
This bird was a rare visitor on an Eaglehawk pelagic in Tasmania in May. It is a large member of the family, seen flying past the boat beyond the Continental Shelf.
Solution:
This bird was very exciting for me as it appeared on my 75th pelagic off Eaglehawk Neck in Tasmania. That should give you some idea of how seldom this bird has been seen in Tasmanian waters.
This bird shows a long, thin bill with indistinct nostrils, so leads us to the shearwaters. There are a couple of key features that make this bird quite distinctive. The blackish cap separated from the brown upperparts by a thin white collar, dusky patch on the belly (seen in the second pic) and the white band at the top of the tail (seen in first pic) are characteristic of this species, so even though it was totally unexpected in May in Tasmania, it’s identification is not that difficult.
It is, as everyone correctly deduced, a Great Shearwater Ardenna gravis. Usually found in the Atlantic Ocean, it is known to make regular forays into the western Indian Ocean, around South Africa. Occasionally, birds have been seen off the Continental shelf of Australia.
Check out the map of sightings here, and you’ll see how lucky we were to see it! https://ebird.org/species/greshe
Some wonderful information here: http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/great-shearwater (if you flick through the pics you’ll see some familiar names!)
Women Birders Australia 