Sea Birds
Australasian Gannet (morus serrator)
Wingspan 1700mm-1900mm body weight of 2kg.
I only have the one shot of this guy. We do see them around over summer but not in large numbers. Breeds in NZ and...
The Black Browed Albatross,
Wingspan 200–240 cm
Average weight of 2.9–4.7 kg
Natural Lifespan of over 70 years
Breads on 12 Islands throughout the southern oceans.
Lord Howe Island...
Black Noddy (Anous minutes)
Wingspan 700mm body weight of 100g
Black Noddy's are here over the summer months you can find them breeding in the pinetrees at the north end of North bay. By November they...
Black-winged Petrel (Peterodroma nigripennis) Wing span 670mm.
Black- winged Petrels breed on Lord Howe and the outer islands. Can be seen here at sea and down at Neds beach
Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster)
Wingspan 1700mm-1900mm body weight of 2kg.
I only have the one shot of this guy. We do see them only every now and again. More common from Queensland north.
Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus)
Wingspan 820mm, body weight of 200g
Breeds on Lord Howe on small bushes around the cliffy slopes Spring -Summer. You can see them at Old Gulch, south end of Blinkie beach...
Buller's Albatross... Wingspan 2.1m, breads on New Zealand Islands endemic.
Campbell Albatross (Thalassarche impavida)
Wingspan 2200mm body weight of 2.2-3.8kg
We see this beautiful bird over the winter months here. Breeds on Campbell Island off NZ. Common in NZ waters, moves...
Cape Petrel (Daption capense) Wingspan 850mm. Only see a few of these over the winter months at Lord Howe. Breeds on ice free coast of Antarctica, South Georgia and southern ocean islands.
Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia)
Wingspan 1300mm body weight of 574-782g
Only a blow in to Lord Howe. We may see one or two here per year, great looking bird.
Cook's Petrel (Pterodroma cookii) Wingspan 660mm A rare sighting for Lord Howe, I shot this one October 2010 the only sighting of this bird for our waters. Breeds on southern NZ islands...
Fairy Prion (Pachyptila turtur)
Wingspan 560mm body weight of 90g
We see this bird here most winters but this year was the only time I have managed to get a picture of one. Breeds on islands off...
Flesh-footed Shearwater (Puffinus carneipes)
Wingspan 1150mm body weight of 533-800g
Breed on Lord Howe, bird get back here in mid to late August after being on the wing as far north as the coast of...
Gould's Petrel (Pterodroma leucoptera), Wingspan 600mm another fairly rare visitor to Lord Howe. Breeds on CabbageTree island off the south-east coast of Australia.
Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
These guys drop in every year and stay for a while, large all black with a yellow face. I found this one down at Balls Pyramid a year ago. Breeds on the Atlantic...
Great-Winged Petrel (Pterodroma macroptera)
Wingspan 970mm, weight 440-680g. Not a common visitor to Lord Howe. Breeds Sub-Antarctic and Antarctic islands.
Grey Ternlet (Procelsterna cerulea)
Wingspan 520mm body weight of 70g.
Present here all year round, Lord Howe is the only breeding ground in Australia. Local fisherman use this bird to locate fish,...
Grey-faced Pertel (Pterodroma gouldi)
Wingspan 1000mm, body weight 595-740g. New Zealand endemic, Breeds on islands of the north east coast of NZ north island. Can see at Lord Howe over spring and...
Gull-billed Tern (Sterna nilotica)
Wingspan 800mm body weight of 250g
This bird was blown over here during winter this year (2011) when we had some very strong West winds. First time I have seen one....
Hutton's Shearwater (Puffinus huttoni)
Wingspan 750mm body weight of 242-378g
Breeds in NZ endemic. We only see the odd one or two here, just moving through. Very fast on the wing so hard to...
Wingspan 2m, breeds Southeast Indian Ocean Islands first record for Lord Howe Island. Only has the yellow on the upper bill.
Kermadec Petrel (Pterodroma neglecta)
Wingspan 1000m, body weight 370-590g
You can find this bird here all year around, only at sea. The only place in Australia it breeds is Balls Pyramid, 23km south...
Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris)
These guys drop in every year and stay for a while. There are here now (15/12/11) sitting down at the park every day after they feed.
Little Pied Cormorant (Phalacrocorax melanoleucos)
This bird drops in every now and again; I only have one picture I couldn't get close enough. They range all around the coast of Australia and NZ. Breed...
Little Shearwater (Puffinus assimilis)
Wingspan 630mm body weight of 220-260g
A very hard bird to photograph as he doesn't come close to boats often, so my shot of this guy aren't great. A small fast...
Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra fullageri)
Wingspan 1800mm body weight of 2.2kg.
This great bird is here all the time, breeds on the outer islands and two places on the main island, has a chick by...
Northern Giant Petrel (Macronectes halli)
Wingspan 1900mm body weight of 3.8-5kg.
We see the odd one here over the winter months, breeds southern ocean islands eg Macquarie Is, has a pinkish tip to...
Pomarine Jaeger ( Stercorarius pomarinus)
Wingspan 1100mm body weight of 500g
When these have flashed through I have only managed to get one good picture. We don't see many here.
Providence Pertel (Pterodroma solandri)
Wingspan 1000mm, body weight 500g. Tasman Sea endemic, Breeds on Lord Howe Island from March to November. The best time to see them here is April. Large numbers...
Red-Billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus)
Wingspan 1100mm body weight of 420g
This guy must have got lost!! The first record for this bird in Australia was on Lord Howe last November 2010. Great bird...
Red-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon rubricaudra)
Wingspan 1050mm Body weight of 700g
Can be seen here most of the year best over the summer months. Breeds here in the rocky cliffs around the Island. Easy to...
Short-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus tenuirostris)
Wingspan 970mm body weight of 480-800g
Short-tailed Shearwaters don't breed here they just come zooming through in their thousands. We see them passing...
Shy Albatross..... Wingspan 2.5m breads on Albatross, Mewstone and Pedra Blanca Islands.
Sooty tern (Sterna fuscata)
Wingspan 900mm body weight of 180g
Sooty terns or Wide-a-wake as locals call them are the most abundant sea bird here over summer around 100,000 of them. They are here from...
South Polar Skua (Catharacta maccormicki)
Wingspan 1600mm body weight of 2kg
We see these guys over winter, when you first spot them you think you have spotted an eagle. Breeds on southern ocean...
Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus)
Wingspan 1950mm body weight 3.8-5kg Bill has greenish tip.
We see this great bird here over the winter months, not common.
Southern Skua (Stercorarius antarctics)
Wingspan 1500mm body weight of 2kg.
This bird is the largest of the Skua's, breeds in the southern ocean islands feeds on almost anything it can scrounge. Large...
Tahiti Petrel (Pseudobulweria rostrate)
Wingspan 840mm, body weight 300g. Petrel of the tropical Pacific, First record for Lord Howe, very rare around here. My only sighting of this bird.
Albatross are only visitors to the island, so you are lucky to see one. Over winter, autumn and spring is the best time of year to find Albatross around Lord Howe Island. They bread on islands south of...
Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus pacificus)
Wingspan 980mm body weight of 320-510g
A widespread seabird that nests throughout tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans. Breeds August to May in short burrows...
White tern (Gygis alba)
Wingspan 750mm body weight of 110g.
Breeds on lord Howe from September to May. They don't make any nest at all just lay on the branch of a tree. Arrived on the island in the 1940...
White-bellied Storm petrel (Fregetta grallaria)
Wingspan of 460mm body weight 46-74g.
This a very hard bird to photograph as he is so fast and so small, the smallest sea bird on the ocean. Breeds on the...
White-chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis)
Wingspan 1400mm, body weight 1.3-1.39kg. A southern ocean bird, breeds southern ocean islands and some NZ islands. First record for Lord Howe, very rare...
White-headed Petrel (Pterodroma lessonii)
Wingspan 1009mm, body weight 580-800g. A southern ocean bird, breeds southern ocean islands and some NZ islands. I have seen this bird twice at Lord Howe in...
White-necked Petrel (Ptreodroma cervicalis)
Wingspan 970mm body weight 380-545g
We see this Southwest Pacific bird here over the summer months, not in big numbers only ones and twos. Looks like a...