Southern Giant Petrel

We haven't included sea creatures on this web site due to the enormity of the subject. However in Perth and along the coast it is possible to encounter one of these birds during winter when they are blown off-course onto our shores by strong storms, some have landed in Fremantle and even further inland to the hills area. The northern limit is around Shark Bay.

I have had the pleasure in looking after one of these birds. They are aggressive and an experienced person should only attempt to rescue them.

The southern Giant Petrel is approx 86cm-99cm in length with a wing span of 185cm-205cm.

They live in the Southern oceans coming to the southern Australian seas in winter.

The Southern Giant Petrel and the Northern Giant Petrel are hard to distinguish from each other as they both overlap in area and they can both have lighter or dark plumage. The Southern Giant Petrel has a dark eye and the Northern Giant Petrel has a pale grey eye.

They spend all their time at sea unless they are incubating the single chick which both parents tend to.

Sea birds get oil from a gland at the base of their tail and wipe it over their feathers with their beak to make themselves waterproof.

What do they eat?

They are both a scavenger of dead whales and a hunter.

The hooked beak is used to grip and rip at their food.

One Southern
Giant Petrel that came into care had the band on its leg from South America. Which means it was rescued there at some point, released and ended up on our shores. These birds are always tagged by the Perth Zoo before releasing them. On release they have to be taken out on a boat to deeper waters so that they can get their bearings and not fly back to shore.

They have a huge area on top of their beak called salt glands, that processes the salt so they can drink the ocean water.

The skull was 16cmL x 5.6cmW and was photographed at the Western Australian Museum

They have shorter wings than an albatross and they flap more than glide.

Not that you are likely to be close enough to a giant petrel to smell it but they do have a very strong odour. (Its funny to be driving home after working with these birds and saying to yourself, I stink of Giant Petrel).

Even when handling the birds we never saw one projectile its stomach contents, fortunately. (I was far more concerned about where the beak was snapping).

They have large webbed feet to paddle through the ocean. Can you imagine sitting there on the high seas rolling up and down with the swell without a concern for drowning or dehydrating? Totally unafraid of the depth of water or the vastness of their habitat. (You can see why they are aggressive in a confined cage in captivity).

We found we could not house two of these birds in the same enclosure due to them being so aggressive towards each other.

Go here for information
Go here for photographs
Go here to see their egg
Go here to see a giant petrel from Chile.

Text;

A Field Guide To The Birds of Western Australia by G.M. Storr and R.E. Johnstone