Birds of Macquarie Island

Overview

Four species of penguin breed on Macquarie Island. The endemic royal penguin has a population estimated at 850,000. There are also 100,000 breeding pairs of king penguin, the third largest such colony in the world. Gentoo and southern rockhopper penguins also breed there. In the past the penguins, mainly the royal and king penguins, were exploited for their oil, a practice which ceased in 1919.

The four breeding species of albatross are all threatened by long-line fishing when feeding away from the island, including the most numerous, the light-mantled sooty albatross with 2000 breeding pairs, and the wandering albatross, with fewer than ten pairs breeding each year.

Many species of petrel breed on Macquarie. However, they have been adversely affected by the introduction of black rats, house mice, rabbits and cats, and the small blue petrel breeding population on the island is considered to be critically endangered. Wekas were introduced by sealers in the mid-19th century and flourished, adding to the predation threat. With the eradication of the cats and the wekas, and an ongoing program to control the rabbits (which cause erosion), there are signs that the breeding petrel populations are beginning to recover. The long-term aim is to eradicate the rodents and rabbits as well.

The Macquarie Island parakeet became extinct about 1891. The Macquarie Island rail, an endemic subspecies of the buff-banded rail, disappeared about the same time.

List of birds

Anatidae

Grey teal, Anas gracilis - vagrant

Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos - vagrant, breeding recorded

Pacific black duck, Anas superciliosa - breeding, hybridising with mallard

Spheniscidae

Emperor penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri - vagrant

King penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus - breeding, near threatened

Southern rockhopper penguin, Eudyptes chrysocome - breeding, vulnerable

Snares crested penguin, Eudyptes robustus - vagrant

Royal penguin, Eudyptes schlegeli - endemic species, vulnerable

Erect-crested penguin, Eudyptes sclateri - vagrant

Adelie penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae - vagrant

Chinstrap penguin, Pygoscelis antarctica - vagrant

Gentoo penguin, Pygoscelis papua – breeding, vulnerable

Procellariidae

Cape petrel, Daption capense - breeding

Southern fulmar, Fulmarus glacialoides - vagrant

Blue petrel, Halobaena caerulea - breeding, critically endangered

Kerguelen petrel, Lugensa brevirostris - vagrant

Southern giant petrel, Macronectes giganteus - breeding, endangered

Northern giant petrel, Macronectes halli - breeding, vulnerable

Slender-billed prion, Pachyptila belcheri - vagrant

Antarctic prion, Pachyptila desolata - breeding, vulnerable

Fairy prion, Pachyptila turtur - breeding, endangered

Snow petrel, Pagodroma nivea - vagrant

Common diving petrel, Pelecanoides urinatrix - breeding

White-chinned petrel, Procellaria aequinoctialis - vagrant

Grey petrel, Procellaria cinerea - breeding, endangered

Mottled petrel, Pterodroma inexpectata - vagrant

White-headed petrel, Pterodroma lessonii - breeding, vulnerable

Great-winged petrel, Pterodroma macroptera - vagrant

Soft-plumaged petrel, Pterodroma mollis - possibly breeding

Little shearwater, Puffinus assimilis - vagrant

Sooty shearwater, Ardenna griseus - breeding

Short-tailed shearwater, Ardenna tenuirostris - vagrant

Antarctic petrel, Thalassoica antarctica – vagrant

Diomedeidae

Shy albatross, Thalassarche cauta - vagrant

Grey-headed albatross, Thalassarche chrysostoma - breeding, endangered

Black-browed albatross, Thalassarche melanophris - breeding, endangered

Royal albatross, Diomedea epomophora - vagrant

Wandering albatross, Diomedea exulans - breeding, critically endangered

Sooty albatross, Phoebetria fusca - vagrant

Light-mantled sooty albatross, Phoebetria palpebrata – breeding, vulnerable

Hydrobatidae

Grey-backed storm petrel, Garrodia nereis - possibly breeding, endangered

Wilson's storm petrel, Oceanites oceanicus - possibly breeding, vulnerable

Phalacrocoracidae

Great cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo - vagrant

Macquarie shag, Phalacrocorax purpurascens - endemic species, vulnerable

Sulidae

Australasian gannet, Morus serrator – vagrant

Ardeidae

Great egret, Ardea alba - vagrant

Cattle egret, Ardea ibis - vagrant

Little egret, Egretta garzetta - vagrant

White-faced heron, Egretta novaehollandiae - vagrant

Nankeen night heron, Nycticorax caledonicus – vagrant

Threskiornithidae

Glossy ibis, Plegadis falcinellus – vagrant

Accipitridae

Swamp harrier, Circus approximans – vagrant

Rallidae

Eurasian coot, Fulica atra - vagrant

Weka, Gallirallus australis - introduced, extinct

Macquarie rail, Gallirallus philippensis macquariensis - endemic subspecies, extinct

Baillon's crake, Porzana pusilla – vagrant

Scolopacidae

Ruddy turnstone, Arenaria interpres - vagrant

Red knot, Calidris canutus - vagrant

Red-necked stint, Calidris ruficollis - vagrant

Latham's snipe, Gallinago hardwickii - vagrant

Bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica - vagrant

Red-necked phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus - vagrant

Common greenshank, Tringa nebularia – vagrant

Recurvirostridae

Black-winged stilt, Himantopus himantopus – vagrant

Charadriidae

Grey plover, Pluvialis squatarola - vagrant

Masked lapwing, Vanellus miles – vagrant

Laridae

Great skua, Catharacta skua - breeding

Kelp gull, Larus dominicanus - breeding

Silver gull, Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae - vagrant

Arctic tern, Sterna paradisaea - vagrant

Antarctic tern, Sterna vittata – breeding, endangered

Psittacidae

Macquarie parakeet, Cyanoramphus erythrotis - endemic species, extinct

Apodidae

Pacific swift, Apus pacificus - vagrant

White-throated needletail, Hirundapus caudacutus – vagrant

Fringillidae

European goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis - vagrant

Common redpoll, Acanthis flammea - breeding

Common chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs – vagrant

Emberizidae

Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella – vagrant

Hirundinidae

Welcome swallow, Hirundo neoxena – vagrant

Zosteropidae

Silvereye, Zosterops lateralis – vagrant

Turdidae

Common blackbird, Turdus merula - vagrant

Song thrush, Turdus philomelos – vagrant

Sturnidae

Common starling, Sturnus vulgaris - breeding