Submission No 198: Fulmar Prion Pachyptila crassirostris, Mt. Cameron West, Tasmania, 11th September 1995. Submitted by Alan Tennyson.

Verdict: Accepted

A specimen record relating to a bird found in poor condition at Mt Cameron West, Tasmania in September 1995 and estimated to have been dead for some weeks. The specimen was measured following the methods described in HANZAB and then forwarded to the Tasmanian National Parks Wildlife office after being preserved in alcohol. Key measurements taken include: wing length (maximum chord) 181mm, bill length 21.3mm, bill depth 9.8mm, bill width 10.6mm, maxillary unguis width 5.6mm and tail length 91.4mm.

Several committee members were able to view the specimen first hand and confirm the measurements and the identification. The specimen was considered to be of too poor a condition to allow plumage characters to be of use, or to establish the age and sex of the individual. To add to this it is generally considered that plumage characters are of little use in the way of reliable separation from P. turtur. The culminicorn was fairly rounded in profile; suggesting that this was not a very young bird, given that this bill plate tends to have an angular profile in fresh juveniles (Cox 1980).

The key features in confirming the identification of this bird being the bill structure and bill measurements, with the main contributing characters when comparing P. turtur being:

• The generally short and stout jizz of the bill.
• The comparatively large maxillary unguis when viewed from above.
• The extent of exposed culminicorn between the maxillary unguis and the base of the bill.
• In side view, the underside of the mandibular unguis looks straight and the tip of the bill plate is higher than the base, which is unlike typical P. turtur. (Although there is an area of overlap with this feature, HANZAB 1990).

On most measurements this bird could have been either a small Fulmar Prion or a large Fairy however the length of the culminicorn (measured by D. Rogers) and importantly the width of the maxillary unguis rules out subantarctic Fairy Prion P.t.subantarctica. which is the nearest contender; having a maxillary unguis range between 3.3mm & 4.4mm wide.

The committee has no hesitation in unanimously accepting this record as a Fulmar Prion Pachyptila crassirostris most likely of the nominate race crassirostris, being the first confirmed record for Australia (excluding the territories). This case may need to be re-examined should future taxonomic decisions lump the Heard Island Fulmar Prion P.c.crassirostris with Fairy Prion P.turtur.

References and Bibliography

• Cox, J.B. 1980, Some remarks on the breeding distribution and taxonomy of the prions (Procellaridae: Pachyptila). Records of the South Australian Museum 18: 91-121.
• Harper, P.C. 1980 The field identification and distribution of the prions (genus Pachyptila) with references to the identification of storm-cast material. Notornis 27: 235-286.
• HANZAB: Marchant, S. & P.J. Higgins (1990). The Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 1, part A, Ratities to Petrels. Oxford University Press; Melbourne.

Tony Palliser
Chairman Birds Australia Rarities Committee (BARC)