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  1. Species
  2. ›
  3. Procellariidae
  4. ›
  5. Macronectes
  6. ›
  7. Southern Giant Petrel
Southern Giant Petrel
Photo · (c) Flavien Saboureau, some rights reserved (CC BY)

BirdUp · Species

Southern Giant Petrel

Macronectes giganteus(Gmelin, JF, 1789)

Updated 21 March 2026

Conservation status: EndangeredOrigin: Native
Order
PROCELLARIIFORMES
Family
Procellariidae
Genus
Macronectes

At a glance

The Southern Giant Petrel is a large bird, about 35–42 cm long, listed as Endangered and native to Australia. It can be seen year-round.

Size
35–42 cm
Conservation status
Endangered
Origin
Native
Best seen
Year-round
Commonness
Rare
  • Identification
  • Where
  • When
  • Behaviour
  • Gallery

01 · Identification

How to tell it apart

What does a Southern Giant Petrel look like?

The Southern Giant Petrel is a large bird, about 35–42 cm long.

The southern giant petrel, also known as the Antarctic giant petrel, giant fulmar, stinker, and stinkpot, is a large seabird of the southern oceans. Its distribution overlaps broadly with the similar northern giant petrel, though it overall is centered slightly further south. Adults of the two species can be distinguished by the colour of their bill-tip: greenish in the southern and reddish in the northern.

Description · wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Field specs

Length
35–42 cm
Wingspan
185 cm

Measurements · avonet · CC BY 4.0

03 · When

When to look

When can you see a Southern Giant Petrel?

The Southern Giant Petrel is present across its Australian range year-round, so it can be seen in any month.

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

05 · Behaviour

Habits and haunts

06 · Gallery

Plumage up close

2 photos

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02 · Where

Where to find it

Where does the Southern Giant Petrel live in Australia?

The Southern Giant Petrel is native to Australia, recorded across 29 of Australia’s bioregions.

BreedingSO, AN : is. and coasts of south Chile and Argentina and Antarctica to Heard (south-central Indian Ocean) and Macquarie is. (far south-east of Australia)

Non-breedingWidespread in all south oceans and cold currents to north, often south of Antarctic Convergence, often along beaches

Distribution from BirdUp Australia community data

Legend

  • Breeding
  • Non-breeding
  • Resident
  • Vagrant
  • Passage

8 regions recorded