LC
Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus



Taxonomy

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: #http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of _the_WP15.xls#.
Brooke, M. de L. 2004. Albatrosses and Petrels Across the World. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: #http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm#.
Turbott, E.G. 1990. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand. Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Wellington.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2018 Least Concern
2016 Least Concern
2012 Least Concern
2009 Least Concern
2008 Near Threatened
2007 Near Threatened
2005 Vulnerable
2004 Vulnerable
2000 Vulnerable
1994 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988 Lower Risk/Least Concern
Species attributes

Migratory status full migrant Forest dependency does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type continent
shelf island
Average mass -
Range

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 140,000,000 km2 medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident) 5,900 km2 medium
Number of locations 11-100 -
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
Estimate Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
Population size 95600-108000 mature individuals medium estimated 2007
Population trend increasing good estimated 1945-2009
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods) 1-9% - - -
Generation length 21.3 years - - -

Population justification: Chown et al. (unpubl. report 2008) estimates a population size of 54,000 pairs, whereas a total of c.47,800 pairs (roughly equating to 150,000 total individuals) can be estimated from Patterson et al. (2008) and unpublished data from Falklands Conservation and British Antarctic Survey. This consists of an estimated 19,500 pairs on the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), 5,500 pairs on South Georgia (Georgias del Sur), 5,400 pairs on South Shetland Islands (Shetland del Sur), 3,350 pairs on South Orkney Island (Orcadas del Sur) (British Antarctic Survey unpubl. data), 2,500 pairs on Heard and MacDonald Islands (DPIW unpubl. data), 2,145 pairs on Macquarie Island, 2,300 pairs in Argentina (Quintana et al. 2006), 230 pairs on the Tristan da Cunha Islands, 280 pairs on the Antarctic Continent. In addition, Patterson et al. (2008) estimate 1,190 pairs on the Antarctic Peninsula, 1,550 pairs on the South Sandwich Islands, 2,800 pairs on Prince Edward Islands (Ryan et al. 2009), 1,060 pairs on Iles Crozet and four pairs in Iles Kerguelen.

Trend justification: Recent trends are variable, with some populations continuing to decline (British Antarctic Survey unpubl. data, Patterson et al. undated), some stable (Gonzalez-Solis and Croxall 2005, Ryan et al. 2009, Cuthbert et al. 2014) and others showing substantial increases, including populations on Patagonia, Argentina (Quintana et al. 2006), the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) (Reid and Huin 2005) and South Georgia (Poncet et al. in litt. 2008). Importantly, the latter populations represent the two largest populations in the world; thus, the overall global trend is now increasing. Combining trend data for both regions (north and south of 60°S) gives a best estimate of a 17 % increase and a worst case scenario of a 7.2 % decline over the past three generations (64 years) (Chown et al. unpubl. report 2008 ), and it is precautionarily assumed here to have undergone a slow decline during this period.


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding visitor Non-breeding visitor Passage migrant
Antarctica extant native yes
Argentina extant native yes
Australia extant native yes
Bouvet Island (to Norway) extinct native yes
Brazil extant native yes
Chile extant native yes
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) extant native yes
Fiji extant vagrant yes
French Polynesia extant vagrant
French Southern Territories extant native yes
Heard Island and McDonald Islands (to Australia) extant native yes
High Seas extant native yes
Madagascar extant native yes
Mozambique extant native yes
Namibia extant native yes
New Zealand extant native yes
Norfolk Island (to Australia) extant native yes
Peru extant native
Réunion (to France) extant vagrant
Seychelles extant vagrant
South Africa extant native yes
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands extant native yes
St Helena (to UK) extant native yes
Uruguay extant native yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name
French Southern Territories Île de l'Est
South Africa Prince Edward Islands Special Nature Reserve
Peru Reserva Nacional de Paracas
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands South Georgia - mainland, islands, islets and stacks
South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands South Sandwich Islands
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Beaver Island Group
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Bleaker Island Group
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Elephant Cays Group
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Jason Islands Group
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Lively Island Group
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Passage Islands Group
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Pebble Island Group
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Sea Lion Islands Group
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Speedwell Island Group
Heard Island and McDonald Islands (to Australia) Heard and McDonald Islands
Australia Macquarie Island
St Helena (to UK) Gough Island
Antarctica Southern Powell Island and adjacent islands
Antarctica Signy Island
High Seas South Georgia Marine Protected Area Border North
Chile Isla Noir
Argentina Talud Agujero Azul

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Grassland Subantarctic major breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands major breeding
Marine Intertidal Rocky Shoreline suitable breeding
Marine Neritic Macroalgal/Kelp suitable non-breeding
Marine Neritic Macroalgal/Kelp suitable breeding
Marine Neritic Pelagic major non-breeding
Marine Neritic Pelagic major breeding
Marine Neritic Seagrass (Submerged) suitable non-breeding
Marine Neritic Seagrass (Submerged) suitable breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel suitable non-breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel suitable breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs suitable non-breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs suitable breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Sandy suitable non-breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Sandy suitable breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Sandy-Mud suitable non-breeding
Marine Neritic Subtidal Sandy-Mud suitable breeding
Marine Oceanic Epipelagic (0-200m) major non-breeding
Marine Oceanic Epipelagic (0-200m) major breeding
Marine Oceanic Mesopelagic (200-1000m) major non-breeding
Marine Oceanic Mesopelagic (200-1000m) major breeding
Altitude 0 - 300 m Occasional altitudinal limits  

Threats & impact
Threat (level 1) Threat (level 2) Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest] Timing Scope Severity Impact
Ongoing Majority (50-90%) Negligible declines Low Impact: 5
Stresses
Species mortality
Geological events Volcanoes Timing Scope Severity Impact
Past, Likely to Return Minority (<50%) Negligible declines Past Impact
Stresses
Species disturbance, Reduced reproductive success

Utilisation
Purpose Primary form used Life stage used Source Scale Level Timing
Food - human - - non-trivial recent

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Macronectes giganteus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/southern-giant-petrel-macronectes-giganteus on 19/03/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org on 19/03/2024.