Angola, Antarctica (B), Argentina, Australia, Bouvet Island (B), Brazil, Chile, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), French Southern Territories, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Mozambique, Namibia, New Caledonia, New Zealand (B), Peru, South Africa, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (B), St Helena, Uruguay (NB), Vanuatu.
Breeds in Antarctica and at various sub-Antarctic islands, including Macquarie and Heard Islands, dispersing widely over southern oceans, including seas off the southern and eastern coasts of Australia.
Food
Mainly euphausiid crustaceans, with smaller amounts of fish, squid and gastropods, obtained from the surface of the sea.
Voice
Generally silent at sea. Noisy in burrows and in flight over the breeding colonies. Rapid twittering. Loud, shrill 'squarks' and squeals uttered in defence and territorial disputes.
Antarctic Prion (Pachyptila desolata) [XC622658]
by id from Ile Haute, France (uncertain)
Antarctic Prion (Pachyptila desolata) [XC343632]
by \u00c9mile Brisson-Curadeau from Prion Island, United Kingdom (call, song)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds in Antarctica and at various sub-Antarctic islands, including Macquarie and Heard Islands (October - May).
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Nest
In a chamber at the end of a burrow, either unlined or lined with loose rocks, stones, moss and lichens. In colonies.
Eggs (Guide)
1; smooth, matt, white, becoming stained; oval; about 47 x 35 mm. Incubation: about 45 days; both sexes, in 3 - 4 day shifts. No replacement laying.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 45 - 55 days. Brooded in the first three - five days.
Subspecies
Often included in Broad-billed Prion (Pachyptila vittata). Arrangement into subspecies highly confused, and populations apparently form cline. Birds from Macquarie I sometimes placed in alter, or isolated in separate subspecies macquariensis. Birds from Heard I alternatively placed in desolata. Up to six subspecies variously accepted, but species may be best considered monotypic.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
desolata (Gmelin, 1789) - Crozet, Kerguelen, Macquarie Is.
alter (Mathews, 1912) - Auckland, Heard Is.
banksi A. Smith, 1840 - Scotia Arc, South Georgia, South Sandwich Is; Scott I (Antarctica).
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet