Seabird Fact File
Trajectory analyses prepared for Greenpeace New Zealand show the extent of oil propagation, dispersion
and beaching in the event of a deep-water blowout at two sites – 1/ Taranaki Basin: Romney Prospect and
2/ Canterbury Basin: Caravel Prospect – in the summer-autumn season.
Greenpeace New Zealand
http://oilspillmap.org.nz/
New Zealand is ideally suited to seabirds; surrounded by productive oceans, presenting a multitude of
breeding habitats and having been isolated from mammalian predators for millions of years prior to human
arrival. It is thus no surprise that the New Zealand archipelago has great seabird diversity with 86 breeding
species (using IUCN classifications) of which 36 are endemic species (42%) breeding nowhere else in the
world. Indeed of 359 seabird species worldwide approximately 140 are known to occur within the New
Zealand EEZ, including species breeding outside the region, making the country a world centre of seabird
diversity (F&B IBA Advocacy).
This fact file has been prepared to highlight the potential impacts on seabirds in the event of a major oil
spill from deep-water well sites. It uses information from Forest & Bird/BirdLife International’s Important
Bird Area (IBA) Programme, together with published and unpublished information relating to seabird
distribution. Forest & Bird is identifying areas that are important to New Zealand’s seabirds, where they
breed and the extent of their foraging across the marine environment, as part of BirdLife International’s
Global Important Bird & Biodiversity Area Programme.
Figure 1: White-capped Albatross in flight. Photo: Fredric Pelsy
Figure 2: Heavily-oiled, dead White-capped Albatross, giant petrel sp.
and other seabirds found during the Rena Oil Spill. Photo: Kim
Westerskov
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Seabird Fact File

Seabirds can’t escape oil on the sea’s surface because they won’t know it's there until it's too late.
They need to land or at least make contact with the water to feed.

Oiled birds can’t fly, swim or feed. Most will drown.

Seabirds immediately begin attempting to clean their feathers when they get oiled. Ingested oil can be
lethal.

Oil reduces the waterproofing of the feathers and makes the birds vulnerable to hypothermia. Birds
lacking waterproofing will lose buoyancy.

Most seabirds will die when they get covered in oil. Some species such as penguins are a little hardier,
but it takes weeks of intensive care for them to recover.

We will never see the full impact of an oil spill at sea on seabirds. The number of oiled bird carcasses
found on beaches will represent only a fraction of the total killed.

Some birds might wash ashore alive and be picked up. But it is highly unlikely that recovery attempts
would be made in a deep sea situation. Studies at seabird colonies affected by a spill may give us some
idea of the likely impacts but it won’t save any birds.

If an oil spill happens in the middle of the breeding season, adults could return to the colony bringing
contaminated food and transferring oil to chicks. Alternatively, if one parent is killed the chick dies.

Oil spills from deep-water wells will impact on New Zealand’s threatened seabirds. Which species and
how many will depend on where that well is located, and the rate and volume of oil released into the
marine environment before it can be shut down.
Figure 3: Hutton’s Shearwaters off Kaikoura. During breeding these globally threatened seabirds forage in areas
shown as most affected in the Greenpeace Canterbury Basin modelling (Figure 7). Photo: Dennis Buurman
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Seabird Fact File
Figure 4: Trajectory analysis prepared for Greenpeace NZ
The West Coast of northern New Zealand is home to three major Australasian Gannet colonies (all
identified as globally important sites) and a number of nationally important seabird breeding sites. There
are several harbours; two have been identified as globally important sites for seabirds and shorebirds.
A deep water blowout from a well in the Taranaki Basin of the magnitude modelled by Greenpeace would
have a catastrophic effect on species occurring there, most notably Australasian Gannet and Cook’s Petrel,
a globally threatened species. Seabirds caught in oil offshore will remain largely unseen, that is, until bodies
wash ashore, most likely a small proportion of those affected. It’s important to note that an oil spill
offshore at a lesser rate than modelled will still have a significant impact. There is also the insidious effect
of relatively lightly-oiled birds carrying oil back to colonies and chicks, in some cases outside the area
immediately affected – for example, Cook’s Petrels breeding on Te Hauturu-o-Toi (Little Barrier Island) in
the Hauraki Gulf. The species at risk are summarised in Table 1 (below).
Pelagic species are those seabirds that feed in areas remote from land whose foraging areas can change
through different stages of breeding. Seaward extensions to breeding colonies, defined by foraging range,
depth and/or habitat preferences of the species concerned provide one method for identifying areas
important to seabirds (see Fig. 4).
Pelagic species
Pelagic species
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Figure 5: Map showing
potential interaction with
Marine IBA identified using
seaward extensions - coastal
foragers.
Refer to Table 1 for all
seabird species that could
be at risk including those
that forage further offshore
– pelagic species.
Seabird Fact File
Summary of species at risk (Taranaki Basin) (Table 1)
Species
IUCN
Threat 1
Breeding
season
Breeding sites
Foraging
Information
source
Reference
VU
Summer
Little Barrier Island
Forage in the
north Tasman Sea
then travel across
the North
Auckland
Peninsula to the
Hauraki Gulf
(North Auckland
Seabird Flyway
IBA)
Tracking (Fig 6
below)
Rayner el al
2007
High Risk
Cook’s Petrel
Observations
Australasian
Gannet
LC
Summer
Muriwai
Karewa (Gannet
Island) – also Three
Kings Islands and
Farewell Spit.
Forage across
shelf waters, also
inshore and
harbours
Observations
DOC aerial
surveys
unpubl.
Grey-faced
Petrel
LC
Winterearly
summer
Auckland West
Coast (incl.
Bethells), Karioi,
North Taranaki
Coast, Nga Motu
(Sugarloaf islands) –
also Motuopao and
Three Kings islands.
Range widely in
Tasman Sea
Tracking
(Bethells)
Taylor
unpubl.
Flesh-footed
Shearwater
LC
Summer
Bethells,
Motumahanga (Nga
Motu (Sugarloaf
islands).
Forage widely in
Tasman Sea
Tracking
(Bethells)
Taylor &
Rayner
unpubl.
White-faced
Storm Petrel
LC
Summer
Nga Motu
(Sugarloaf islands) –
also Motuopao
Central place
forager – range
unknown for this
population.
Common Diving
Petrel
LC
Winterearly
summer
Nga Motu
(Sugarloaf islands) –
also Motuopao
Central place
forager – range
unknown for this
population
Tracking
(Bethells)
Taylor &
Rayner
unpubl.
NT
November
to June
Auckland and
Antipodes Islands
(NZ Subantarctic
Islands), occ.
Chatham Islands.
Range widely and
commonly seen
offshore around
North Island
Tracking
GSTDB
(Thompson
& Sagar)
Medium Risk
White-capped
Albatross
2
Observations
Black-winged
Petrel
LC
Summer
Motuopao and
Three Kings
Range widely
during breeding
Extra-limital
tracking
Rayner
unpubl.
Sooty
Shearwater
NT
Summer
Bethells – also
Motuopao and
Three Kings
Range widely into
Tasman and south
towards Polar
Tracking
(Bethells)
Taylor
unpubl.
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Seabird Fact File
Front.
Fluttering
Shearwater
LC
Summer
Small population on
North Taranaki
coast - Motuopao
and Three Kings
Generally coastal
and shelf foraging,
some dispersing
south following
breeding.
Observations
DOC aerial
survey
VU
Summer
Breeds only on Poor
Knights islands
Range widely and
extend into
Tasman Sea and
down west coast
of both islands.
Tracking
Taylor &
Rayner
unpubl.
Tracking
Low Risk
Buller’s
Shearwater
Black Petrel
VU
Summer autumn
Breeds only on
Great and Little
Barrier Islands.
Range widely from
colony and extend
into Tasman Sea.
Fairy Prion
LC
Summer
Huge population
out of region on
Stephens Island /
Marlborough
Sounds.
Range unknown
for this population
Observations
Jenkins
1988
Bell et al
2009
1
IUCN Red List Categories: CR = Critically Endangered, EN = Endangered, VU = Vulnerable, NT = Near Threatened, LC =
Least Concern
2
GSTDB = Global Seabird Tracking Database (BirdLife International)
Pelagic species are those seabirds that feed in areas remote from land. Foraging areas change through
different stages of breeding. Historically this understanding has been gained from boat-based observations
of where birds congregate to feed at sea and from collecting colony-based datasets, such as the length of
adult foraging trips away from breeding colonies that can be extrapolated to interpret likely foraging
distance. In recent years however this fairly coarse understanding of seabird foraging ecology is being
transformed through the use of bird-borne tracking devices, which is radically changing our knowledge of
seabird foraging ecology and behaviour. While research in this area is proliferating, coverage of both
species and study sites/colonies remains patchy, thus our understanding of distribution in the pelagic zone
is in a formative state. Despite this, the picture that’s emerging of how seabirds use New Zealand’s marine
environment from the tracking studies and other data is both complex and far reaching.
Seaward extensions to breeding colonies provide one method for identifying areas important to seabirds.
While many seabird breeding colonies through the country have already been identified as IBAs, their
boundaries have been, in almost all cases, confined to the land on which the colonies are located. The
boundaries of these sites can, in many cases, be extended to include those parts of the marine
environment which are used by the colony for feeding, maintenance behaviours and social interactions.
Such extensions are limited by the foraging range, depth and/or habitat preferences of the species
concerned. The seaward boundary is, as far as possible, colony and/or species-specific, based on known or
estimated foraging and maintenance behaviour.
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Seabird Fact File
Figure 7: Trajectory analysis prepared for Greenpeace NZ
The Subtropical Convergence zone east of the South Island are highly productive seas attracting a great
diversity of seabird species (see table 2 below). A deep water blowout from the Caravel Prospect of the
magnitude modelled by Greenpeace would have a catastrophic effect. The greatest impact would be on
pelagic species, including a number of the world’s most threatened. Few seabirds caught in an oil slick of
this magnitude would wash up on beaches of the South Island as the modelling shows – an unseen
catastrophe of global scale, which, as the response to the Rena oil spill showed, would go largely
unmonitored. But not all would be unseen as coastal species, including the iconic Yellow-eyed Penguins
and most of the world’s populations of Hutton’s Shearwaters and Spotted Shags would, as days pass, be
trapped by the slick as it spread across their feeding grounds.
Pelagic species
Pelagic species
Pelagic species
6|Page
Figure 8: Map
showing potential
interaction with
Marine IBA identified
using seaward
extensions - coastal
foragers.
Refer to Table 2 for
all seabird species
that could be at risk
including those that
forage further
offshore (pelagic
species).
Seabird Fact File
Summary of species at risk (Canterbury Basin – Chatham Rise) (Table 2)
Species
IUCN
Threat 1
Breeding
season
Breeding sites
Foraging 2
Information
source
Reference
EN
Summer
Oamaru, Moeraki
Peninsula,
Aramoana and
Otago Peninsula.
Small population
on Banks
Peninsula.
Foraging out to 50km
from coast, (dive
depth <150m).
Tracking
Mattern et al
2007
Global
population
breeds in two
colonies in
Seaward
Kaikoura Range
Foraging both coastal
and pelagic; recent
tracking shows
foraging south of
Chatham Rise during
breeding.
Tracking
High Risk
Yellow-eyed
Penguin
Hutton’s
Shearwater
EN
Summer autumn
Observations
Moore 1999
Diet studies
Bell et al
unpubl.
Observations
2
Northern Royal
Albatross
EN
Year round
Taiaroa Head
(small), Chatham
Islands (very
large)
Range widely; passage
in and out of Taiaroa
Head colony would
place birds at risk;
birds from Chatham
Islands forage along
the Chatham Rise
Tracking
(Chatham
Islands)
GSTDB
(Suzuki)
ACAP (Nicholls
et al 2002)
Stewart Island
Shag
VU
Summer
Moeraki
Peninsula
(largest colony
for species on
Maukiekie) and
Otago Peninsula
Foraging out to 18km
from coast, (dive
depth <80m).
Diet studies
Lalas 1983
Bounty Islands
(97% global
population) –
also breeding on
Snares Islands
(Western Chain)
Range widely including
north from breeding
grounds to the
Chatham Rise and
Cook Strait area.
Current information
based mostly on at-sea
observations and
recoveries from fishing
vessels.
Observations
Antipodes,
Auckland and
Campbell Islands
Range widely including
Chatham Rise. Most
common species
observed caught in
New Zealand fisheries
between 1998 and
2004.
Tracking
Salvin’s
Albatross
White-chinned
Petrel
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VU
VU
August to
April
September
to May
Observations
ACAP
Tracking
studies from
2013
Observations
2
GSTDB
(Thompson &
Sagar)
Seabird Fact File
White-capped
Albatross
Sooty
Shearwater
Spotted Shag
NT
NT
LC
November
to June
Summer
Summer
Chatham Island
Taiko (Magenta
Petrel)
CR
September
to June
Southern Royal
Albatross
VU
Year round
Gibson’s
Albatross
VU
Year round
Antipodean
Albatross
8|Page
VU
Year round
Auckland and
Antipodes
Islands
Forage widely; while
foraging through all
stages of breeding is
mainly in southern
waters, significant
numbers occur along
the Otago Canterbury
coast and Chatham
Rise.
Tracking
Small colonies on
Banks Peninsula
and Otago coast;
very large
colonies on
islands around
Stewart Island
/Rakiura, Snares
Islands and
Chatham Islands.
Forage widely during
breeding, especially
towards the Polar
Front; however large
numbers forage
offshore from Otago
and Canterbury coasts.
Distribution of
Chatham Islands
breeding birds
unknown.
Tracking
c.75% global
population
breeds between
Kaikoura and
Otago Peninsula
with largest
population on
Banks Peninsula;
congregations
post-breeding at
Oamaru, Timaru,
Ashburton River
and Kaikoura.
Foraging out to 18km
from coast, often in
large flocks.
Observations
(incl. aerial
surveys)
Chatham Island.
One of the rarest
birds in the
world, fewer
than 200
individuals.
Auckland and
Campbell Island
Auckland Islands
Antipodes
Islands
Thompson &
Sagar 2008
Observations
2
GSTDB
(Shaffer 2005)
Observations
Crossland et al
2012
DOC aerial
surveys
Diet studies
Lalas 1983
Foraging widely,
including the Chatham
Rise, although mainly
to the south and east
of the colonies.
Tracking
Rayner &
Taylor unpubl.
Foraging widely,
including Chatham Rise
Tracking
Waugh et al
2002, 2003
Foraging widely, over
the shelf edge and
deep waters mainly in
the Tasman Sea, but
also east of the South
Island.
Tracking
Walker & Elliott
2006
Range widely, but
mainly over the shelf
edge and deep water
around the Chatham
Rise.
Tracking
Observations
Observations
Walker & Elliott
2006
Seabird Fact File
Southern
Buller’s
Albatross
Northern
Buller’s
Albatross
NT
NT
December
to
September
December
to
September
Snares and
Solander Islands
Chatham Islands
Range widely;
commonly found off
the South Island,
including areas east of
Canterbury and Otago
coasts.
Tracking
Range widely; foraging
mainly around
Chatham Islands and
off eastern North
Island.
Tracking
2
GSTDB (Stahl,
Sagar,
Thompson)
Observations
2
GSTDB
(Deppe,
Scofield, NIWA)
Observations
Northern Giant
Petrel
NT
August to
May
Chatham islands
– also Antipodes,
Auckland and
Campbell Islands.
Range widely,
although adults remain
relatively close to
colonies during
breeding.
Observations
Cape Petrel
LC
October to
February
Snares Islands
Range widely during
breeding season,
observed in large
numbers on Chatham
Rise and commonly
seen off east coast of
South island.
Observations
Chatham Petrel
CR
November
to June
Chatham Islands
150-250 pairs.
Range widely,
including over deep
waters south of
Chatham Rise during
chick-rearing.
Tracking
Rayner et al
2012
Chatham Shag
CR
September
to February
(breeding)
Restricted to
Chatham Islands
Forage out to 18km
from colonies, (dive
depth <80m).
Observations
Bell 2013
Erect-crested
Penguin
EN
September
to February
Bounty Islands –
also Antipodes
Islands (Campbell
Island population
outside range).
Seaward extension
(100km), however
range during breeding
and distribution postbreeding unknown
Pitt Island Shag
EN
September
to February
(breeding)
Restricted to
Chatham Islands
Forage out to 18km
from colonies, (dive
depth <24m)
Tracking
Bell 2012
Range widely,
common in waters
east of the New
Zealand including
Chatham Rise.
Tracking
Range widely, mainly
in Subantarctic waters
but includes Chatham
Rise.
Tracking
Medium Risk
Grey Petrel
Mottled Petrel
9|Page
NT
NT
Antipodes and
Campbell Islands
Fiordland and
Whenau Hou
(Codfish island)
Observations
2
GSTDB
(Thompson)
Observations
Rayner and
Sagar R.
unpubl.
Seabird Fact File
Broad-billed
Prion
LC
August to
January
Chatham Islands
(largest colony) –
also islands
around Stewart
Island, Fiordland,
Snares Islands.
Chatham Rise,
however range during
breeding and
distribution postbreeding largely
unknown.
Fulmar Prion
LC
October to
February
Bounty Islands
Foraging offshore
from breeding
colonies, however
range during breeding
and distribution postbreeding largely
unknown.
Soft-plumaged
Petrel
LC
September
to May
Antipodes
Islands
Buller’s
Shearwater
VU
September
to May
Poor Knights
Islands
Generally forage over
deep water beyond
the continental shelf;
observed Chatham
Rise.
Generally forage over
warm water north of
45°S, either over
shallow inshore seas or
deep water beyond
the continental shelf.
Observed east of
South Island including
Chatham Rise.
Foraging out to 18km
from islands, (dive
depth <80m).
Low Risk
Bounty Island
Shag
VU
October to
December
(breeding)
Restricted to
Bounty Islands
Observations
Tracking
Taylor &
Rayner unpubl.
Observations
Observations
1
IUCN Red List Categories: CR = Critically Endangered, EN = Endangered, VU = Vulnerable, NT = Near Threatened, LC =
Least Concern
2
GSTDB = Global Seabird Tracking Database (BirdLife International)
Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels 2013. ACAP Species Assessments:
https://data.acap.aq/
BirdLife International Global Seabird Tracking Database (GSTDB): http://www.seabirdtracking.org/
Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online: http://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/
Forest & Bird/BirdLife International Important Bird Area (IBA) seabird colony database
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Seabird Fact File
The IBA programme presents a comprehensive overview of New Zealand’s seabirds allowing us to visualise
where they breed and the extent of their foraging across the marine, and for inland breeding gulls and
terns, freshwater environments.
Elsewhere in the world, the general approach has been to look at all bird populations and identify IBAs on
that basis. In New Zealand, where seabirds make up over half our endemic and native bird species,
identifying IBAs for seabirds first and foremost recognises New Zealand’s rich and diverse seabird fauna.
Also, because most seabirds are colonial breeders, it provides the opportunity to work with the IBA
process within the New Zealand context before moving ahead to identifying IBAs for terrestrial-, shoreand water-bird species.
IBAs are sites that are recognised as internationally important for bird conservation and known to support
key bird species. The function of the IBA Programme is to identify, and help focus and facilitate
conservation action for a network of sites that are significant for the long-term viability of naturally
occurring bird populations, for which a site-based approach is appropriate. The continued ecological
integrity of these sites will be decisive in maintaining and conserving such birds. Legal protection,
management and monitoring of these crucial sites are all important targets for action, and many (but not
all) bird species may be effectively conserved by these means.
The IBA Programme is global in scale and more than 12,000 IBAs have already been identified worldwide,
using standard, internationally recognised criteria for selection. The sites are identified on the basis of the
bird numbers and species’ complements that they hold, and are selected such that, taken together, they
form a network throughout the species’ biogeographic distributions.
MARINE IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS
Given the long periods that seabirds spend at sea, the multiple threats they face there and the vast
distances they cover, identifying a network of priority sites for their conservation in the marine
environment is critical to ensure their future survival. Determining seabird high-use areas and the
identification of Marine IBAs will make a vital contribution to initiatives to gain greater protection.
GLOBAL CRITERIA FOR MARINE IBA
Global IBA criteria have been applied in the marine environment:
A1
Regular presence of threatened species
A4
More than 1% of global population regularly occurring.
There are four aspects of seabirds’ annual cycles where they are most likely to occur in IBA threshold
numbers, potential areas to investigate include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Seaward extensions to breeding colonies.
Coastal congregations of non-breeding seabirds.
Migration hotspots and pathways.
Important areas for pelagic species.
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