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Case Summary for:
Submission No 230: Snow Petrel Pagodroma nivea; Macquarie Island, 15 March 1995. Submitted by Paul Schofield.. Verdict: Accepted As with case No. 229 this record refers to a specimen record of a bird picked up this time from the north-west coast of Macquarie Island near Eagle Point (540 31'S 1580 53'E) 15 March 1995. Once again the specimen was frozen and returned to Australia where it was later examined. This specimen relates to a pair of extremely worn feathered wings attached by only the bare outer humeri and parts of the sternum. It was reported that the sternum had most of the keel missing. The condition suggesting that the specimen may have been dead for a number of seasons before being found. Heavily soiled wings making a detailed description difficult. The remiges and coverts mostly off white. The outer webs of the outer three primaries have a grey wash. No obvious vermiculations visible. As with case 229 the underdown is dense and especially pronounced at the carpel joint. The wing measured 260mm (using flattened chord method) and again suggests the small subspecies P.n.nivea (Marchant & Higgins 1990). Verification of the record and confirmation of the claimed identity has been established by the Tasmanian Museum where this specimen is now held (Specimen: B4669) the committee therefore has no hesitation in accepting this record. The Snow Petrel is normally confined to areas south of the Antarctic Convergence with records further north in Australian waters confined to a record from Heard Island in the winter of 1948 (Gilchrist 1952), a confirmed sight record of two birds west of Macquarie Island 7 October 1994 (BARC case No.228) and a specimen record From Macquarie Island 25 July 1994 (BARC case No.229). This being now being the 3rd record of this species accepted by the committee.
References and Bibliography
Tony Palliser |