The Giant Petrel, or "Stinkpot"

New Zealand Listener, Volume 15, Issue 375, 30 August 1946, Page 33

The Giant Petrel, or "Stinkpot"

(Written for "The Listener" by

J. H.

SORENSEN

HE giant petrel is well known to all voyagers in southern areas. It is more usually known as the "nelly" and to sailors as the "stinkpot," the latter appellation being bestowed because of its very strong musty odour and habit of ejecting an evil-smelling oil if approached too closely. It is not a handsome bird and its huge beak, small "piggy" eyes, sombre plumage, and gross feeding habits make it unpopular with most people. With the exception of the albatrosses, it is the largest member of the petrel group, often measuring seven feet from wingtip to wing-tip. It is commonly seen offshore from Wellington southwards, becoming more and more common the farther south one goes. It comes well in shore in search of food and is not uncommon in Wellington Harbour. The plumage of the giant petrel is a dark slatey brown, the wings and tail being the darkest. The bare skin around the base of the beak and around the eyes is a bluish grey, the beak itself being a yellowish horn colour. The eyes are small for such a large bird, dark brown in young birds and bluish grey with dark flecks in older ones. Pure white birds or albinos are not common, but rather more plentiful are white individuals with brown feathers scattered through the plumage. Distribution and Flight The giant petrel is found from the Antarctic continent to the Tropic of Capricorn, extending along the coast of South America into the tropics and straggling as far north as California. Though awkward on land, walking with a peculiar sideways shuffle and wings outstretched for balance, it is a

powerful flier when on the wing. It does not glide as much or as well as do the albatrosses and, even when gliding, it frequently gives a few wing flaps every now and then. The birds fly low to the water, then suddenly rise in an almost vertical lift to dive seawards again at terrific pace. One can both see and hear the wing feathers quivering on such occasions. It can only be confused with the sooty albatross, but’ should be recognised by its larger size, darker plumage and yellowish beak. The beak of the ‘sooty albatross is almost black. Nesting and Young Almost all islands in the southern ocean have colonies of nesting giant petrels. It also nests on islands off Stewart Island and, according to one authority, it formerly bred on the Chathams. It is one of the earliest breeders on the Auckland and Campbell Islands, the single large white egg being laid at the end of August. The nesting birds definitely like a "place with a view," and nests are constructed on headlands or slopes near to steep cliffs facing into the prevailing wind. The nest is a fairly simple structure of loose tussock and grass gathered together by the incubating bird reaching out from a shallow depression on the selected. site. Gradually a considerable mound is accumulated. It is usual- fur a number of birds to nest in one locality or colony, but occasionally one finds a single nest away from the others. Although the giant petrels are timid and unfriendly, incubating birds will remain on the nest unless suddenly startled. At one’s approach the sitting bird utters a rasping note which terminates in a coughing squawk. This is the warning to keep away. Should one continue to approach the bird will almost invariably

sject a quantity of evil-smelling oil with skill and precision. The chicks do exactly the same,-and I well recall the job I had to clean my camera lens after trying to photograph a chick at a distance of fourteen inches. The chick’s rim was perfect! Clothed in fine light grey down, the voung chicks are handsome little fellows. {In a very short time, however, the beak clongates and they lose much of their attractiveness. The downy coat darkens a little and the feathers gradually appear, those of the wings coming through first of all. Finally in late January. the juvenile plumage is complete and the young birds take off to forage for their own living. Competition for food is very. keen and many adults fail to rear their chicks, the nest and egg or young chick being deserted, Gross Feeding Habits It is the gross feeding of the giant petrel which earns it the most opprobrium. It is not truly a bird of prey, ‘ and rarely takes other birds as food although it has been claimed that, at Macquarie Island, the small prions or whale birds form a _ considerable , part of the diet. Scavenging is the giant petrel’s real occupation and nothing washed ashore or floating dead on the sea is overlooked, be it the carcase of a huge whale or the, body of a tiny penguin. They are continually on the cruise for food and the carcase of a seal washed ashore wiil bring several dozens around in a very short time. Unless the. remains are well decayed there is not much chance of all the birds being able to feed at one time. One "bossy" bird will take up a position on the flank of the seal and make a small hole into the abdominal cavity. The whole head and neck are thrust in, and the kind of mess ‘made is best left to the imagination! As the seal decays more and more birds get their chance, gorging themselves on this carrion until often they are unable to take wing again. They then sit around on the ground or fruitlessly try to wash. the oil and filth off | their soiled plumage in the water., If disturbed while in this gorged state they immediately vomiit the stomach contents until they are light enough to take off. Small wonder that so few people like and so many detest the giant petrel. Nevertheless it, too, has a place to fill in Nature’s scheme of things. Without it much of the rubbish cast ashore would simply lie and putrefy, provide a breeding ground for flies, and offend more than do the habits of the bird itself. One is sorry not to be able to put forward more good points in this bird’s favour, but, truth to tell, it has so few according to human standards that the preceding sentence must suffice.