Northern Giant Petrel Macronectes halli

Chilean name: Petrel gigante subantártico
Northern  Giant-Petrel, Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile, January 2007 - click for larger image Chile

The Northern Giant Petrel breeds on various islands in the southern seas bordering the Antarctic but the juveniles in particular disperse widely throughout the southern oceans.

There is a distribution map on xeno-canto .

Photos 1 to 3 were taken off Robinson Crusoe Island while photos 4 to 6 were taken from the Chacao-Pargua Ferry to Chiloe.

Northern  Giant-Petrel, Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile, January 2007 - click for larger image It is very similar to the Southern Giant Petrel  M. giganteus and both species are found in the seas off Chile with the Northern generally found further south than the Southern despite their English names. Northern is also rarer than Southern and the species are very similar. The most noticeable difference is the bill where the Northern has a reddish tip to the otherwise yellow bill while the Southern has a pale green tip to its bill.
Northern  Giant-Petrel, Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile, January 2007 - click for larger image It is distinguished from the albatrosses by its shorter, narrower wings, its hump-backed look and its huge bill.

Northern  Giant-Petrel, Chacao-Pargua Ferry, Chiloe, Chile, December 2005 - click for larger image
Northern  Giant-Petrel, Chacao-Pargua Ferry, Chiloe, Chile, December 2005 - click for larger image
Northern  Giant-Petrel, Chacao-Pargua Ferry, Chiloe, Chile, December 2005 - click for larger image
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