Seabirds found dead on New Zealand beaches in 1983 and a review of albatross recoveries since 1960 Journal Paper
- Author
- Powlesland, R.
- Year
- 1985
- Journal / Source
- Notornis
- Volume
- 32
- Pages
- 23-41
- Keywords
- dead seabirds; New Zealand beaches
- Summary
- In 1983, 4559 kilometres of coast were patrolled and 5991 dead seabirds were found. A new record for the Beach Patrol Scheme was a Pomarine Skua (Stercorarius pomarinus). Unusual finds were Yellownosed Mollymawk (Diomedea chlororhynchos), Stejneger's Petrel (Prerodroma longirostris), White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus), Lesser Frigate Bird (Fregata ariel) and Grey Ternlet (Procelsterna cerulea). A wreck of Long-tailed Skuas (Stercorarius longicaudus) occurred mainly on Auckland West beaches in January and February. A summary is given of the coastal and monthly distribution for each species and subspecies of the 2401 albatrosses found during the 1960-1983 period. Of the various coastal regions, albatrosses were found most frequently (number of birds per 100 km covered) on Southland beaches. The most frequently found albatross was the Grey-headed Mollymawk (Diomedea ch~sostoma).