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In 1991, 4780 km of coast of New Zealand were patrolled and 6955 dead seabirds were found as part of the Beach Patrol Scheme. An unusual find was a red-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda), and more than usual were found of the Antarctic petrel (Thalassoica antarctica), white-headed petrel (Pterodroma lessonii), little black shag (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) and brown skua (Catharacta skua lonnbergi). A summary is given of the coastal and monthly distributions of Morus and Sula species found during the 1943-1991 period. Overall, 5637 Australasian gannets (Morus serrator) were found, mainly on beaches of the northern half of the North Island. The peak period of adult recoveries was in December-February, but that of juveniles was in February-May. Both the brown booby (Sula leucogaster) and the masked booby (Sula dactylatra) are vagrants to the New Zealand mainland, with four and one individuals respectively having been found by patrollers.