Birds Of Macquarie Island
This is a list of the bird species recorded on Macquarie Island. The avifauna of Macquarie Island include a total of 74 species, of which 6 have been introduced. Of these, 8 species are globally threatened. The birds of Macquarie Island are, unsurprisingly for an isolated oceanic island, predominantly seabirds. By far the majority of the breeding species are penguins, petrels and albatrosses. However, the bird list includes many vagrants, including passerines, from New Zealand and Australia. Overview Four species of penguin breed on Macquarie Island. The royal penguin has a population estimated at 850,000. There are also 100,000 breeding pairs of king penguin, the third largest such colony in the world. Gentoo and southern rockhopper penguins also breed there. In the past the penguins, mainly the royal and king penguins, were exploited for their oil, a practice which ceased in 1919. The four breeding species of albatross are all threatened by long-line fishing when ...
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