Birds

This section contains information about the variety of bird species found in the Polar Regions.

Sections:

• Albatrosses
  • Black-browed Albatross
    The Black-browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophrys) can live to 70 years of age and is on of the most endangered bird species.
  • Grey-headed Albatross
    The Grey-headed Albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma) lives to about 36 years of age which is relatively your by Albatross standards.
  • Sooty Albatross
    The Sooty Albatross (Phoebetria palpebrata) is a huge bird, with a wingspan of 70 cm. Just as their name states, they are sooty gray.
  • Southern Royal Albatross
    Southern Royal Albatross (Diomedea epomophora) spend 95% of their lives at sea, flying 90% of the time they are over water.
  • Wandering Albatross
  • Waved Albatross
    The waved albatross (Diomedea irrorata) have a wingspan of over two meters, and can live up to 45 years of age.
• Fulmars, Shearwaters and Sheathbills
  • Great Shearwater
  • Lesser Sheathbill
  • Little Shearwater
  • Snowy Sheathbill
  • Sooty Shearwater
  • Southern Fulmar
• Gulls
  • Kelp Gull
    The Kelp Gull or Dominican Gull (Larus dominicanus) is the only gull commonly seen in Antarctica.
• Penguins
  This section contains information about the Penguin species
  • Adele Penguin
  • Chinstrap Penguin
  • Emperor Penguin
  • Gentoo Penguin
  • King Penguin
  • Macaroni Penguin
  • Rockhopper Penguin
  • Royal Penguin
• Petrels and Prions
  • Antarctic Petrel
    The Antarctic Petrel spends the Antarctic winter at sea near the pack ice edge, returning the continent to breed in the summer.
  • Black-bellied Storm petrel
  • Blue Petrel
    The Blue Petrel (Halobaena caerulea) flies over all the seas from the temperate latitudes along the coasts of Africa, Australia and South America to near the Antarctic continent.
  • Broad-billed Prion
  • Cape Petrel
    The Cape Petrel (Daption capense) have a circumpolar distribution that ranges from the subtropics to the edge of the Antarctic continent.
  • Common Diving Petrel
    Common Diving Petrel’s (Pelecanoides urinatrix) nest on coastal plains and slopes on cliff edges and behind stable dunes.
  • Fairy Prion
  • Fulmar Prion
    The Fulmar Prion (Pachyptila crassirostris) has a large global population estimated to be 200,000 individuals
  • Great winged Petrel
    The Great winged Petrel (Pterodroma macroptera) breed in scattered pairs or small colonies in self-excavated burrows.
  • Grey backed Storm petrel
  • Grey Petrel
    The Grey Petrel (Procellaria cinerea) are not seriously affected by commercial fishing, but have suffered high losses from predation.
  • Grey-backed Storm Petrel
    The grey-backed storm petrel has ash-grey upperparts and white underparts, and feeds mainly on planktonic crustaceans, small squid and fish.
  • Kerguelen Petrel
    The Kerguelen Petrel (Lugensa brevirostris) is uniformly dark on the upper parts and slightly lighter below, with plumage so shiny that it appears to have white or silvery patches on it.
  • Mottled Petrel
    The Mottled Petrel (Pterodroma inexpectata) is highly pelagic, rarely approaching land, except to nest and rear young.
  • Narrow-Billed Prion
  • Snow Petrel
    Snow Petrels (Pagodroma nivea) are circumpolar, nesting extensively on the Southern continent and on some of the islands in high latitudes.
  • Soft-plumaged Petrel
    The Soft-plumaged petrel (Pterodroma mollis) is mostly dark above and white on the breast and belly.
  • South Georgia Diving petrel
  • Southern Giant Petrel
    Another name given to Southern Giant Petrels is “stinker”, which comes from their ability to spit (with accuracy) a blob of oil and food at their attacker.
  • White Headed Petrel
    The White-headed Petrel (Pterodroma lessonii) has a white head and underbody that contrast with the dark underwings.
  • White-bellied Storm Petrel
  • White-chinned Petrel
    The White-chinned Petrel starts breeding in November/December in self-excavated burrows, on well-vegetated slopes and level ground.
  • White-faced Storm-petrel
  • Wilson’s Storm Petrel
    The Wilson’s Storm Petrel is a trans-equatorial migrant, with one of the longest recorded migrations.
• Skuas and Shaqs (Cormorants)
  • Antarctic Shag
  • Antarctic Skua
  • Imperial Shag
  • Kerguelen Shag
  • South Polar Skua