Submission No 453: Snares Penguin Eudyptes robustus Discovery Bay, VIC. 11 August 2004. Submitted by: Brett Jarrett

A beachcast specimen found on the high tide line at Discovery Bay, Victoria 11 August 2004. Initially identified as either Erect-crested Penguin E. sclateri or Snares Penguin E. robustus. Closer examination and photographic evidence subsequently confirmed the identification as E. robustus. With the following features used to reach this decision:

• Large, robust reddish-orange bill with bulbous maxillary unguis.
• Large whitish-pink fleshy gape.
• Broad, yellow supercilium extending to within 3 mm of bill, ending in a fine point midway between the culminicorn and latericorn.
• Under-flipper off-white with extensive, disrupted black markings.

Members voted unanimously in favour of acceptance. The first confirmed record for Victoria and only the second to be confirmed by BARC (see case No. 317). Although, Marchant and Higgins (HANZAB 1990) reports six records in Tasmania before 1990 and one from South Australia.

Selected Bibliography:

· Marchant, S. & P.J. Higgins. (Eds). 1990. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds. Volume 1 (part A). Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

Verdict: Accepted

Tony Palliser

Chairman, Birds Australia Rarities Committee