Notornis, 70 (3), 111-123
Article Type: Paper
Abstract: The black-winged petrel (Pterodroma nigripennis) is an abundant procellariiform seabird breeding on islands in the Southwest Pacific and Indian Oceans. The largest populations breed in the New Zealand region where at sea movements and breeding behaviour across the annual cycle remain poorly described. We used geolocators with saltwater immersion sensors to track movements and characterise breeding behaviour of P. nigripennis from three New Zealand breeding colonies (Raoul, Burgess, and Rangatira Islands) across a 1,600 km latitudinal gradient. Breeding extended from November to June and in Raoul Island birds pre-laying, incubation, and chick rearing periods lasted 36, 50, and 85 days respectively. During breeding, birds from all colonies foraged within waters of the subtropical convergence zone which for Raoul, required one-way foraging trips of over 1,500 km. During March–June birds migrated east, then north and northwest to core foraging zones predominantly within the North Pacific subtropical front, but a small number of birds also wintered south of Hawaii in equatorial waters. Birds were predominantly nocturnally active during breeding and non-breeding seasons indicating a dependence of nocturnally available prey. These data contribute to a growing understanding of the unprecedented movements and potential partitioning of habitat by Australasian Pterodroma petrels within the Pacific Ocean and we summarise and discuss available data.