3. Appearance
Medium sized, grey head and neck
dark grey back and tail and a white breast
The under wing is white, but with black on the leading
edge
Adult have black bill with bright yellow ridges
Juveniles have a predominantly black bill
averages 81 cm (32 in) in length and 2.2 m (7.2 ft) in
wingspan
4. Etymology
The name chrysostoma is derived from two Greek words.
Khrusos means "gold"
and stoma means "the mouth“
in reference to its golden bill.
5.
6. Habitat
Are marine and pelagic
Seen on land during breeding season
Breed on steeps, cliffs and among tussock grass
Out side the breeding season, remains at sea
Found in Georgia and New Zealand
9. Feeding
feeding in the open oceans rather than over
the continental shelves
feed predominantly on squid, taking also some
fish, crustacean, carrion, cephalopods, and lampreys
They are capable of diving as deep as 7 m (23 ft) to
chase prey, but do not do so frequently.
10. Reproduction
A single egg is laid in a large nest, typically built on
steep slopes or cliffs with grass,
incubated for 72 days
Breed in September and October
11. Calls and songs
usually silent at sea
but it may produce croaking, shrieking and gargling
sounds when feeding in flocks
on land are accompanied by throaty calls and bill-
clapping
12. Red List Category
2012- Vulnerable
2013- Endangered , with a population of about 250,000
mature individuals.
13. Importance
heavily hunted for feathers that were used in the
manufacture of women's hats.
popular birds for birdwatchers
Regular birdwatching trips are taken out of many
coastal towns and cities, like Cape Town
14. Threats
main causes of mortality are
long-lines fishing, trawl fisheries, drift netting and
trolling operations.
Its habitat is degraded by intense grazing by
introduced European Rabbit
Ingestion of marine debris, oil pollution, commercial
fishing
15. Conservation
Population monitoring and foraging studies are being
undertaken at South Georgia
Prince Edward Islands are a Special Nature Reserve.
