Common Diving Petrel

The Common Diving Petrel has black upperparts and white underparts. The sides of the face, neck and throat are mottled grey and the underwings are smoky grey. The stubby bill is black and the legs and feet are blue. They only call at their breeding colonies and the main calls are a harsh ‘kuaka-did-a-did’ and ‘kuaka’ given by the females only and ‘kooo-ah’ which is only given by the male.

They feed mainly on small krill and copepods.

Breeding occurs in large colonies on many off shore islands from Northland to Stewart Island, The Snares, Antipodes and Auckland Island. In northern New Zealand breeding starts in August and from late September in the subantarctic. The birds return to prepare their burrows from March until the end of May. The single white egg hatches after about 53 days and fledges at 45–59 days old in late November–December in northern New Zealand and in January–February in the subantarctic.

With the spread of introduced predators these birds survive best on islands without mammalian predators. There is a thriving colony of diving petrels on Wooded Island, just off the NE coast of Tiritiri Matangi. This colony was the source for birds that were translocated to Motuora Island from 2008 to 2010. They are also common on Tiritiri Matangi itself and their calls can be heard, during the breeding season, in many parts of the Island, especially on the east coast.

Learn more about the common diving petrel at New Zealand Birds Online.

Photo: Common diving petrel chick, Motuora Island, Kay Milton © 2009.

References: Heather, B.D.; Robertson, H.A. 2000 The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Auckland, Viking. Moon, G. The Reed Field Guide to New Zealand Birds.