giant petrel

The genus Macronectes was introduced in 1905 by the American ornithologist Charles Wallace Richmond to accommodate what is now the southern giant petrel. It replaced the previous genus Ossifraga which was found to have been earlier applied to a different group of birds.{{cite journal |last=Richmond |first=Charles Wallace |author-link=Charles Wallace Richmond |year=1905 |title=New generic name for the giant fulmar |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2265544 |journal=Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington |volume=18 |page=76 |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library}}{{cite book |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16108699 |title=Check-List of Birds of the World |publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology |year=1979 |editor1-last=Mayr |editor1-first=Ernst |editor1-link=Ernst Mayr |edition=2nd |volume=1 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |page=59 |editor2-last=Cottrell |editor2-first=G. William |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library}} The name Macronectes combines the Ancient Greek makros meaning "great" and nēktēs meaning "swimmer".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=236 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n236/mode/1up }}

The present-day giant petrels are two large seabirds from the genus Macronectes. Long considered to be conspecific (they were not established as separate species until 1966),{{cite web|last=Remsen Jr.|first=J. V.|display-authors=etal|date=7 Aug 2008|title=A classification of the bird species of South America South American Classification Committee American Ornithologists' Union|url=http://www.aou.org/checklist/south|access-date=9 Jul 2009|work=South American Classification Committee|publisher=American Ornithologists' Union}} the two species, the southern giant petrel, M. giganteus, and northern giant petrel, M. halli, are considered with the two species of fulmars, Fulmarus, to form a distinct subgroup within the Procellariidae, and including the Antarctic petrel, Cape petrel, and snow petrel, they form a separate group from the rest of the family.{{cite web|author=Tree of Life|date=27 Jun 2008|title=Procellariidae. Shearwaters, Petrels|url=http://tolweb.org/Procellariidae/26384|access-date=18 Mar 2009|work=Tree of Life Web Project}}

A fossil giant petrel, Macronectes tinae is known from the Pliocene epoch of New Zealand.{{cite journal |author1=Tennyson, Alan J.D.|author2=Salvador, Rodrigo B. |year=2023 |title= A new giant petrel (Macronectes, Aves: Procellariidae) from the Pliocene of Taranaki, New Zealand. |journal=Taxonomy |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=57–67 |doi= 10.3390/taxonomy3010006|doi-access=free |hdl=10037/29075 |hdl-access=free }}

{{Species table |genus=Macronectes |authority-name=Richmond |authority-year=1905 |species-count=three|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row

|name=Southern giant petrel, Antarctic giant petrel, giant fulmar, stinker, and stinkpot |binomial=Macronectes giganteus

|image=File:Macronectes giganteus in flight - SE Tasmania.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Gmelin |authority-year=1789 |authority-not-original=yes

|range= Antarctica to the subtropics of Chile, Africa, and Australia

|range-image=File:Macronectes giganteus map.svg

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies=

}}

{{Species table/row

|name=Northern giant petrel or Hall's giant petrel |binomial=Macronectes halli

|image=File:Macronectes halli -Godthul, South Georgia, British Overseas Territories, UK -flying-8.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Mathews |authority-year=1912 |authority-not-original=

|range= Southern Ocean north of the Antarctic Convergence Zone, and north through Chile, Argentina, South Africa, and half of Australia.

|range-image=File:Macronectes halli map.svg

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies=

}}

{{Species table/row

|name=Tina's giant petrel, Taranaki giant petrel |binomial=Macronectes tinae

|image=File:Macronectes_tinae_live_reconstruction.png|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Tennyson & Salvador |authority-year=2023 |authority-not-original=yes

|range= extinct (New Zealand, Pliocene)

|range-image=

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= EX

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies=

}}

{{Species table/end}}

The living species are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, and though their distributions overlap significantly, with both species breeding on the Prince Edward Islands, Crozet Islands, Kerguelen Islands, Macquarie Island, and South Georgia, many southern giant petrels nest farther south, with colonies as far south as Antarctica. In July 2019, an individual, either of M. giganteus or M. halli, was found as a vagrant in County Durham and Northumberland in the United Kingdom, marking the first record of the genus in Europe.{{Cite web |title=Southern Giant/Northern Giant Petrel in Co. Durham |url=https://britishbirds.co.uk/journal/article/southern-giantnorthern-giant-petrel-co-durham |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=britishbirds.co.uk |date=December 2021 |language=en}}

The southern giant petrel is slightly larger than the northern giant petrel, at {{convert|3|to(-)|8|kg|lb|1|abbr=on}}, {{convert|180|to(-)|210|cm|in|abbr=on}} across the wings, and {{convert|86|to(-)|100|cm|in|abbr=on}} of body length.{{cite encyclopedia|year=2003|title=Shearwaters, petrels, and fulmars (Procellariidae)|encyclopedia=Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia|publisher=Gale Group|location=Farmington Hills, MI|last=Maynard|first=B. J.|others=Joseph E. Trumpey, Chief Scientific Illustrator|editor1-last=Hutchins|editor1-first=Michael|edition=2nd|volume=8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins|pages=123–133|isbn=0-7876-5784-0|editor4-first=Donna|editor4-last=Olendorf|editor3-last=Bock|editor3-first=Walter J.|editor2-last=Jackson|editor2-first=Jerome A.}}{{cite web |title=Southern Giant Petrel - Fact File |url=http://www.heardisland.aq/nature/animals/fact_file_southern_giant_petrel.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720030417/http://www.heardisland.aq/nature/animals/fact_file_southern_giant_petrel.html |archive-date=20 July 2008 |access-date=23 September 2008 |website=Heard Island |publisher=Australian Government}} The northern giant petrel is {{convert|3|to(-)|5|kg|lb|1|abbr=on}}, {{convert|150|to(-)|210|cm|in|abbr=on}} across the wings and {{convert|80|to(-)|95|cm|in|abbr=on}} of body length.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022 |title=Macronectes halli — Northern Giant Petrel |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=1061#description |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602114407/http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=1061#description |archive-date=2 June 2011 |access-date=2017-07-27 |website=Species Profile and Threats Database |publisher=Australian Government |language=en}}{{Cite web |last= |title=Northern Giant Petrel - Macronectes halli |url=http://www.oiseaux.net/birds/northern.giant.petrel.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917203634/http://www.oiseaux.net:80/birds/northern.giant.petrel.html |archive-date=17 September 2018 |access-date=27 July 2017 |website=Oiseaux |language=en}} They superficially resemble the albatross, and are the only procellarids that can equal them in size. They can be separated from the albatrosses by their bill; the two tube nostrils are joined on the top of the bill, unlike on albatross, where they are separated and on the side of the bill. Giant petrels are also the only members of the family Procellariidae to have strong legs to walk on land. They are also much darker and more mottled brown (except for the white morph southern, which are whiter than any albatross) and have a more hunch-backed look. The bills of Procellariiformes are also unique in that they are split into between seven and nine horny plates. The petrels have a hooked bill called the maxillary unguis which can hold slippery prey. They produce a stomach oil made up of wax esters and triglycerides which is stored in the proventriculus. This can be sprayed out of their mouths as a defense against predators and as a protein-rich food source for chicks and for the adults during their long flights.{{cite encyclopedia|year=2003|title=Procellariiformes (Tubenosed Seabirds)|encyclopedia=Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia|publisher=Gale Group|location=Farmington Hills, MI|last=Double|first=M. C.|others=Joseph E. Trumpey, Chief Scientific Illustrator|editor1-last=Hutchins|editor1-first=Michael|edition=2nd|volume=8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins|pages=107–111|isbn=0-7876-5784-0|editor4-first=Donna|editor4-last=Olendorf|editor3-last=Bock|editor3-first=Walter J.|editor2-last=Jackson|editor2-first=Jerome A.}} Petrels have a salt gland situated above the nasal passage that helps to desalinate their bodies by excreting a high saline solution from their noses.{{cite book|last1=Ehrlich|first1=Paul R.|url=https://archive.org/details/birdershandbookf00ehrl_0|title=The Birders Handbook|last2=Dobkin|first2=David, S.|last3=Wheye|first3=Darryl|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=1988|isbn=0-671-65989-8|edition=First|location=New York, NY|pages=[https://archive.org/details/birdershandbookf00ehrl_0/page/29 29]–31|url-access=registration}}

The two species are difficult to tell from each other, possessing similar long, pale, orange bills and uniform, mottled grey plumage (except for around 15% of southern petrels, which are almost completely white). The billtip of M. halli is reddish-pink and that of M. giganteus is pale green, appearing slightly darker and lighter than the rest of the bill, respectively. The underside of older M. halli birds is paler and more uniform than M. giganteus, the latter showing a contrast between paler head and neck and darker belly.{{cite web |author=BirdLife International |date=2009 |title=Southern Giant-petrel - BirdLife Species Factsheet |url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3870&m=0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201092114/http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3870&m=0 |archive-date=1 December 2008 |access-date=16 Mar 2009 |work=Bird Life International}} Additionally, adults of M. halli typically appear pale-eyed, while adults of M. giganteus of the normal morph typically appear dark-eyed (occasionally flecked paler). Classic examples of northern giant are identifiable at some range. Young birds of both species are all dark and very hard to distinguish unless bill tip colour can be seen. Some relatively young northern giant petrels can appear to be paler on the head, suggesting southern giant, thus this species is harder to confirm.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

The extinct Macronectes tinae is characterized by having smaller bodies than their living relatives.

Macronectes comes from the Greek words makros meaning "long" and nēktēs meaning "swimmer". Also, petrel is derived from St. Peter and the story of his walking on water, as they appear to run on the water when they take off.{{cite book|last1=Gotch|first1=A. F.|title=Latin Names Explained A Guide to the Scientific Classifications of Reptiles, Birds & Mammals|publisher=Facts on File|year=1995|isbn=0-8160-3377-3|location=New York, NY|page=191|chapter=Albatrosses, Fulmars, Shearwaters, and Petrels|orig-year=1979}}

File:Giant petrel.jpg]]

Petrels are highly opportunistic feeders. Unique among procellarids, they will feed both on land and at sea; the majority of their food is found near coastlines. On land, they feed on carrion, and regularly scavenge the breeding colonies of penguins and seals. They will display their dominance over carcasses with a "sealmaster posture":{{cite journal |author=de Bruyn |first1=P. J. N. |last2=Cooper |first2=J. |date=2005 |title=Who's the boss? Giant petrel arrival times and interspecific interactions at a seal carcass at sub-Antarctic Marion Island |journal=Polar Biology |volume=28 |issue=7 |pages=571–573 |doi=10.1007/s00300-005-0724-7 |s2cid=43648629}} the head and the wings are held outstretched, the head pointing at the opponent and the wingtips pointing slightly back; the tail is raised to a vertical position. Giant petrels are extremely aggressive and will kill other seabirds (usually penguin chicks, sick or injured adult penguins and the chicks of other seabirds), even those as large as an albatross, which they kill either by battering them to death or drowning.{{cite journal |doi=10.1071/MU9780094 |journal=Emu |url=http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MU9780094.pdf |title=Albatross Killed by Giant-petrel |year=1978 |volume=78 |author=Cox, J. B. |issue=2 |pages=94–95}} At sea, they feed on krill, squid, and fish. They often follow fishing boats and other ships, in the hope of picking up offal and other waste.

Giant petrel with chick in [[Antarctica|thumb]]

The southern giant petrel is more likely to form loose colonies than the northern, both species laying a single egg in a rough nest built about {{convert|50|cm|in|abbr=on}} off the ground. The egg is incubated for about 60 days; once hatched the chick is brooded for three weeks. Chicks fledge after about four months, but do not achieve sexual maturity for six or seven years after fledging.

While both species were listed as near threatened in the 2008 IUCN Red List,{{cite iucn|title=Macronectes giganteus|page=e.T22697852A132608499|author=BirdLife International|date=2018|volume=2018|access-date=13 November 2021|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22697852A132608499.en}}{{cite iucn|title=Macronectes halli|page=e.T22697859A132609000|author=BirdLife International|date=2018|volume=2018|access-date=13 November 2021|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22697859A132609000.en}} subsequent evidence suggested they were less threatened than previously believed, and the populations of both actually appeared to have increased, at least locally. Consequently, they were listed as least concern on the 2009 Red List{{cite web |author=BirdLife International |date=2009 |title=Northern Giant-petrel - BirdLife Species Factsheet |url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3871&m=0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201103443/http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3871&m=0 |archive-date=1 December 2008 |access-date=9 June 2009 |work=BirdLife International}} and afterwards (as of IUCN's last assessment in 2018, they continue to be listed as least concern).{{Cite iucn|last=BirdLife International|date=7 August 2018|title=Macronectes giganteus|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22697852A132608499.en|access-date=14 April 2021}}{{Cite iucn|last=BirdLife International|date=7 August 2018|title=Macronectes halli|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22697859A132609000.en|access-date=14 April 2021}}

The southern giant petrel is listed as endangered on the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, while the northern giant petrel is listed on the same act as vulnerable.{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=Macronectes giganteus — Southern Giant-Petrel, Southern Giant Petrel |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=1060 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504064258/https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=1060 |archive-date=4 May 2022 |access-date=29 September 2022 |website=Species Profile and Threats Database |publisher=Australian Government}}{{cite web |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl?wanted=fauna |title=EPBC Act List of Threatened Fauna |publisher=Australian government: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts |access-date=25 July 2009}} Their conservation status also varies from state to state within Australia.

File:Giant petrel and king penguins.jpg|Giant petrel which has just killed a king penguin chick

File:Giant petrel flies at soutg georgia.jpg|Giant petrel flying above South Georgia Island

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web|url=http://taxonomicon.taxonomy.nl/TaxonTree.aspx?id=51499&src=0|title=Systema Naturae 2000 / Classification - Genus Macronectes -|access-date=7 November 2020|last=Brands|first=Sheila|date=14 Aug 2008|work=Project: The Taxonomicon}}
• {{cite book |last1=Brooke |first1=M. |title=Albatrosses And Petrels Across The World |year=2004 |publisher= Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, UK |isbn=0-19-850125-0 |chapter= Procellariidae}}
• del Hoyo, Josep, Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (1992). Handbook of Birds of the World Vol 1. Barcelona:Lynx Edicions, {{ISBN|84-87334-10-5}}

• Southern and Northern Giant Petrels - [http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/018.pdf Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds].
• [https://www.facebook.com/thewashodt/videos/992280800848032/ Video of George the Giant Petrel being released by New Zealand Department of Conservation]

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Category:Macronectes

Category:Taxa named by Charles Wallace Richmond