List of birds of Heard and McDonald Islands
This is a list of the birds of Heard Island and the adjacent McDonald Islands in the southern Indian Ocean. For other animals there, see List of non-avian fauna of Heard Island and McDonald Islands.
The birds of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, a subantarctic Australian territory between Australia, Africa and Antarctica, are, whether breeders or visitors, almost all seabirds which find their food at sea in the waters of the surrounding Southern Ocean. An exception is the black-faced sheathbill, an opportunistic scavenger around seal and penguin colonies and the only solely terrestrial breeding bird species present on the islands. The southern giant-petrel and Subantarctic skua are also scavengers as well as predators at seabird colonies.
Heard Island is an important breeding site for macaroni, eastern rockhopper, gentoo and king penguins. Endemic species or subspecies are the Heard shag and the black-faced sheathbill. The surrounding waters are home to numerous species of albatross and petrel, some of which breed on the islands, including the endangered southern giant-petrel and the wandering albatross, both threatened by long-line fishing.
Birds
Spheniscidae
- King penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus - breeding
- Eastern rockhopper penguin, Eudyptes filholi - breeding
- Macaroni penguin, Eudyptes chrysolophus - breeding
- Adelie penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae - visitor
- Chinstrap penguin, Pygoscelis antarctica - visitor
- Gentoo penguin, Pygoscelis papua – breeding
Procellariidae
- Cape petrel, Daption capense - breeding
- Southern fulmar, Fulmarus glacialoides - visitor
- Blue petrel, Halobaena caerulea - visitor - Vulnerable
- Southern giant petrel, Macronectes giganteus - breeding - Endangered
- Northern giant petrel, Macronectes halli - visitor - Vulnerable
- Slender-billed prion, Pachyptila belcheri - visitor
- Fulmar prion, Pachyptila crassirostris - breeding
- Antarctic prion, Pachyptila desolata - breeding
- Broad-billed prion, Pachyptila vittata - visitor
- Snow petrel, Pagodroma nivea - visitor
- South Georgia diving petrel, Pelecanoides georgicus - breeding
- Common diving petrel, Pelecanoides urinatrix - breeding
- White-chinned petrel, Procellaria aequinoctialis - visitor
- Grey petrel, Procellaria cinerea - visitor
- Barau's petrel, Pterodroma baraui - visitor
- Kerguelen petrel, Pterodroma brevirostris - visitor
- Mottled petrel, Pterodroma inexpectata - visitor
- White-headed petrel, Pterodroma lessonii - visitor
- Great-winged petrel, Pterodroma macroptera - visitor
- Soft-plumaged petrel, Pterodroma mollis - visitor - Vulnerable
- Antarctic petrel, Thalassoica antarctica – visitor
Diomedeidae
- Southern royal albatross, Diomedea epomophora - visitor - Vulnerable
- Wandering albatross, Diomedea exulans - breeding - Vulnerable
- Sooty albatross, Phoebetria fusca - visitor - Vulnerable
- Light-mantled albatross, Phoebetria palpebrata - breeding
- Black-browed albatross, Thalassarche melanophris - breeding
- Indian yellow-nosed albatross, Thalassarche carteri - visitor
- Grey-headed albatross, Thalassarche chrysostoma - visitor – Vulnerable
Hydrobatidae
- White-bellied storm petrel, Fregetta grallaria - visitor
- Black-bellied storm petrel, Fregetta tropica - visitor
- Grey-backed storm petrel, Garrodia nereis - visitor
- Wilson's storm petrel, Oceanites oceanicus – breeding
Phalacrocoracidae
- Heard Island shag, Phalacrocorax nivalis - endemic species – Vulnerable
Chionididae
- Black-faced sheathbill, Chionis minor nasicornis - endemic subspecies
Scolopacidae
- Common greenshank, Tringa nebularia – vagrant
Laridae
- Subantarctic skua, Catharacta lonnbergi - breeding
- South polar skua, Catharacta maccormicki - visitor
- Kelp gull, Larus dominicanus - breeding
- Arctic tern, Sterna paradisaea - visitor
- Kerguelen tern, Sterna virgata - vagrant
- Antarctic tern, Sterna vittata - breeding
See also
References
- Barrett, Geoff; Silcocks, Andrew; Barry, Simon; Cunningham, Ross; & Poulter, Rory (2003). The New Atlas of Australian Birds. Melbourne: Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union. ISBN 1-875122-09-5
- Birding-Aus Mailing List Archives
- Marchant, S.; Higgins. (Eds). (1990). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 1: Ratites to Ducks. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. ISBN 0-19-553068-3
- Marchant, S.; Higgins, P.J.; & Davies, J.N. (eds). (1994). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 2: Raptors to Lapwings. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. ISBN 0-19-553069-1
- Woehler, E.J. (1991). Status and conservation of the seabirds of Heard Island and the McDonald Islands. In: Croxall, J.P. (ed.), Seabird Status and Conservation: A Supplement. ICBP Technical Publication No. 11. International Council for Bird Preservation, Cambridge.
- Woehler, E.J. (2006) Status and conservation of the seabirds of Heard Island and the McDonald Islands. In: Green, K. & Woehler, E.J. (eds) Heard Island, Southern Ocean Sentinel. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton, Australia, pp 128–165.