Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus) - 19&25Feb2022

The Giant Petrels in Antarctic and Patagonian waters are truly huge and nasty, earning the nickname Stinkpot or Stinker.  The Southern is differentiated from the Northern by the green tip of the bill which is reddish in the Northern.  When threatened they can spray stomach juices out of their mouths.  They come in dark and light morphs like the ones I photographed below on my trip to Antarctica.  They mostly scavenge and I saw them feasting on the carcasses of penguins that Leopard Seals killed but they can also hunt and kill various things including other seabirds.  They have been seen ganging up on and drowning Albatrosses.



We were able to see some of the big fluffy white chicks on some of the Antarctic islands we visited.



No comments:

Post a Comment