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title: "A Northern Giant Petrel photographed with a sublingual oral fistula sparks a request"
---

# A Northern Giant Petrel photographed with a sublingual oral fistula sparks a request

*![Victor Wilkens Northern Giant Petrel 27 01 2025 Flock](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Petrels/N/Northern_Giant/Victor_Wilkens_Northern_Giant_Petrel_27_01_2025_Flock.jpg)  
A Northern Giant Petrel with a sublingual oral fistula, photograph by Helen Badenhorst, southern Indian Ocean, 27 January 2025*

 [Dr James Reynolds](https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/biosciences/reynolds-jim) (Assistant Professor in Ornithology and Animal Conservation, Centre for Ornithology, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, UK) has written to *ACAP Latest News* on a long-term citizen science project that he has been running about the incidents and causes of [sublingual oral fistulas](https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/ornithology/oral-fistula) in the world's birds.  Since 2016 he has collated records of the condition in nearly 110 species of birds from all continents except Antarctica.  Many of the species in which oral fistulas have been recorded are gulls and terns.  James will be pleased to receive details of the condition in other seabird species.

 James notes that a Northern Giant Petrel *Macronectes halli* was photographed by several participants on the [Flock to Marion AGAIN! 2025](https://www.birdlife.org.za/flock-to-marion-again-2025/) voyage in January this year, likely to be the same individual, as depicted on its [Facebook Page](https://www.facebook.com/groups/184051415289185).  He says “I am asking for help from people who routinely interact with free-living birds at close quarters when handling, observing and photographing them.  I am especially appealing to banders, wildlife photographers and birdwatchers to respond but I am happy to hear from anyone with relevant information.  All records of this rare condition are invaluable because they allow us to map the condition's occurrence onto location, and phylogenetic and ecological trait spaces.  The ultimate aim of the research project is to identify the cause(s) of this condition and thereby to ensure that we can protect avian biodiversity, and especially seabirds that face so many threats, against it proliferating.”

 Records of ACAP-listed and other seabirds exhibiting sublingual oral fistulas can be sent to James at [mailto:j.reynolds.2@bham.ac.uk](mailto:j.reynolds.2@bham.ac.uk)[j.reynolds.2@bham.ac.uk](mailto:j.reynolds.2@bham.ac.uk).

 **Relevant publications:**

 Camiña, A. & Guerrero, L.M. 2013.  An Eurasian Griffon *Gyps fulvus* disadvantaged for feeding.  *[Vulture News](https://www.ajol.info/index.php/vulnew/article/view/168908)*[64: 66-68](https://www.ajol.info/index.php/vulnew/article/view/168908).

 Castro, I. & Taylor, J. 2001.  Survival and reproductive success of Stitchbird (hihi, Notiomystis cincta) suffering from a bill abnormality (oral fistula).  [*Notornis* 48: 241-244](https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Notornis_48_4_241.pdf).

 Hughes, B.J., Martin, G.R., Wearn, C.P. & Reynolds, S.J. 2013.  Sublingual fistula in a Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra) and possible role of ectoparasites in its etiology.  [*Journal of Wildlife Diseases* 49: 455-457](https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-wildlife-diseases/volume-49/issue-2/2012-03-085/Sublingual-Fistula-in-a-Masked-Booby-Sula-dactylatra-and-Possible/10.7589/2012-03-085.short).

 Reynolds, S.J. 2021.  A call for observations of birds with sublingual oral fistulas in central and eastern Europe, and beyond.  [*Ornis Hungarica* 29: 188-194](https://pure-oai.bham.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/155237486/Reynolds_2021_Ornis_Hungarica.pdf).

 Reynolds, S.J., Martin, G.R., Wearn, C.P. & Hughes, B.J. 2009.  Sub-lingual oral fistulas in sooty terns (Onychoprion fuscata). [*Journal of Ornithology* 150: 691-696](https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=5b2994a3d1525ed37ddca70eb0f12a653deab9b2).

 Rintoul, D.A. & Reynolds, S.J. 2019.  Sublingual oral fistula in a Franklin’s Gull (Leucophaeus pipixcan).  [*Kansas Ornithological Society Bulletin* 70: 53-56](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343636154_Kansas_Ornithological_Society_SUBLINGUAL_ORAL_FISTULA_IN_A_FRANKLIN'S_GULL_Leucophaeus_pipixcan).

 *John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 28 July 2025*