Notes on seabirds 76. Northern Giant Petrels Macronectes halli in Brazil

In Brazil, the Northern Giant Petrel Macronectes halli was known from only a single second-year specimen found dead at Ilha Comprida, southern São Paulo state (24°50’S, 47°45’W) on 27 September 1994 (coll. Zool. Mus Univ. São Paulo #73726; Martuscelli et al. 1995). When the bird was fresh, the reddish bill tip was used for identification (biometrics: culmen 105, bill depth at base 46.3, bill width 35.2, tail 157, tarsus 105, wing 510mm). This note reports two additional records: a first-year female captured and kept by fishermen on the beach at Praia do Leste, Iguape (24°40’S, 47°24’W) before 15 October 1999 (sent to Santos Aquarium on 21 October 1999 where it died a few days later, now coll. Zool. Mus. Univ. São Paulo #75483) and another bird found alive on 3 October 2000 near Albardão Lighthouse, southern Rio Grande do Sul state (33°13’S, 52°40’W) that died a few days later in a rehabilitation centre. The skin of this specimen has not been prepared, but photographs of the bird were made where it had been kept (Fig. 1). Both petrels could be identified by the reddishbrown bill tip. The first bird was a juvenile with typical blackish plumage (Fig. 1, biometrics: culmen 86.8, bill height at base 44.6, bill width 32.3, tail 225, tarsus 84.0mm), the other individual was an adult with pale eyelids and a strong contrast between under- and upperparts (Fig. 1). The Northern Giant Petrel has been fairly common in nearby Uruguayan waters in recent years, including seven birds ringed at Macquarie, Crozet and Kerguelen Islands (Olmos 2002). In southern Brazil, the Southern Giant Petrel M. giganteus is much more common and birds are recorded regularly north up to Rio de Janeiro. During winter, giant petrels are frequently seen near the coast and Neves (2000) frequently recorded giant petrels during offshore seabird censuses (probably all giganteus). The specific identity of eight skins in the collection of the Fundação Universidade Federal do Rio Grande remains to be determined, as these birds have lost their characteristic bill tip coloration, as previously noted by Bourne & Warham (1966).