Australasian Gannet
Morus serrator
Least ConcernAves · Suliformes · Sulidae
About
The Australasian gannet, also known as the Australian gannet or tākapu, is a large seabird of the booby and gannet family, Sulidae. Adults are mostly white, with black flight feathers at the wingtips and lining the trailing edge of the wing. The central tail feathers are also black. The head is tinged buff-yellow, with a pearly grey bill edged in dark grey or black, and blue-rimmed eyes. Young birds have mottled plumage in their first year, dark above and light below. The head is an intermediate mottled grey, with a dark bill. The birds gradually acquire more white in subsequent seasons until they reach maturity after five years.
Fun Fact
The most ancient extant species may be the Abbott's booby, possibly the sole survivor of an otherwise extinct separate lineage.
Quick Facts
Habitat
Found from Steep Point in Western Australia, along the southern and eastern Australian coastline to the vicinity of Rockhampton in Queensland, as well as the North and South Islands of New Zealand, Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands.
Diet
Eat forage fish which school near the surface, as well as cephalopods.
Lifespan
20 years
Threats
- Habitat Change
- Human Disturbance