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We report Records Appraisal Committee (RAC) decisions regarding Unusual Bird Reports received between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2016. Among the 113 submissions accepted by the RAC were the first New Zealand records of northern fulmar (
Fulmarus glacialis), Herald petrel (
Pterodroma heraldica), red-footed booby (
Sula sula), laughing gull (
Larus atricilla) and magpie-lark (
Grallina cyanoleuca), the first breeding records for Australian wood duck (
Chenonetta jubata) and glossy ibis (
Plegadis falcinellus), and the second accepted records of shy mollymawk (
Thalassarche cauta cauta), great shearwater (
Puffinus gravis) and Cape gannet (
Morus capensis). Other notable records included a pair of white-winged black terns (
Chlidonias leucopterus) breeding in the Mackenzie basin, and the first record of pukeko (
Porphyrio melanotus) from the Snares Islands. In addition, notable influxes of brown booby (
Sula leucogaster) and great frigatebird (
Fregata minor) occurred during 2015-16.