First record of Soft-plumaged Petrels, Pterodroma mollis, breeding in Australia

Abstract

Confirmation that Soft-plumaged Petrels, Pterodroma mollis, breed in Australia was made at Maatsuyker Island, Tasmania, on 12 December 2001 when the first of six burrows containing incubating birds was found. The Soft-plumaged Petrel population is considered to be very small as only low numbers of adults were heard calling or observed flying at night and, despite extensive searches, only six nests were found. Monitoring during the 2001–02 and the 2002–03 breeding seasons indicated that laying occurred from mid-December and fledging from late April. It may be that small numbers of Soft-plumaged Petrels have always bred on Maatsuyker Island but, owing to their nocturnal and burrow-nesting lifestyle and the presence of large populations of other burrowing seabird species, they were undetected. Conversely, this discovery may be of a new colonisation or re-colonisation of Maatsuyker Island. There is a lack of consensus and clarity regarding the subspecies of Soft-plumaged Petrels and it is currently not possible to conclude which subspecies is breeding on Maatsuyker Island. Walker Island and Flat Witch Islands, both within 2 km of Maatsuyker Island, were also surveyed for Soft-plumaged Petrel burrows but none was found.