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Distribution of Sooty Shearwater ( Puffinus griseus ) breeding colonies along the Otago Coast, New Zealand, with indication of countrywide population trends

  • Publication Type

    Journal Article

  • Publication Year

    1997

  • Author(s)

    S.A. Hamilton; H. Moller; C.J.R. Robertson

  • Journal Name

    Notornis

  • Volume, Issue

    44, 1

  • Pagination

    15-25

  • Article Type

    paper

Keywords

distribution; islands; population abundance; Puffinus griseus; Sooty Shearwater


Distribution of Sooty Shearwater ( Puffinus griseus ) breeding colonies along the Otago Coast, New Zealand, with indication of countrywide population trends

Notornis, 44 (1), 15-25

S.A. Hamilton; H. Moller; C.J.R. Robertson (1997)

Article Type: paper

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Large breeding colonies of Sooty Shearwaters or Titi (Puffinus griseus) occur on offshore islands around New Zealand and several smaller colonies occur on headlands and near-shore islands around southern New Zealand; their population trends are unknown. Twelve mainland colonies around Otago had between 11 and 620 burrows in the 1992/93 breeding season. The largest of three near-shore island colonies in Otago had at least 1,050 burrows. Sooty Shearwater burrows have been recorded from 39 mainland sites in the South Island, but only 11 (28%) of these have been checked in the last 40 years: many may now be extinct. OSNZ Beach Patrol data suggest that the overall number of Sooty Shearwaters has changed little over a 26 year period. Methods for monitoring Sooty Shearwater colonies need to be standardised to evaluate population trends in the future.