What happens to Black Petrels in their first year at sea? A tracking study aims to find out

Black Petrel, artwork by Helen Worthington for ABUN/ACAP Project #35 “Petrels in Peril” in 2021, after a photograph by Virginia Nicol

In May young Vulnerable Black Petrels Procellaria parkinsoni begun fledging, leaving their burrows on New Zealand’s Great Barrier Island/Aotea and Little Barrier Island/Te Hauturu-o-Toi and heading Pacific waters off Ecuador.

“In the largest Black Petrel tracking study ever undertaken, 47 fledglings are being fitted with live trackers to help researchers better understand one of the ocean’s enduring mysteries: why do fewer than 10% of black petrel chicks ever return home?”

Black Petrel off Mercury Islands, New Zealand, photograph by Kirk Zufelt

“The Tākoketai black petrel, is a taonga species endemic to New Zealand.  Each year, these ocean voyagers travel thousands of kilometres across the Pacific, yet return to breed on just two small islands in the Hauraki Gulf.  With fewer than 5,000 breeding pairs remaining, they face growing pressures at sea, from fisheries bycatch and climate change to light pollution and changing ocean conditions.  The ultimate goal is to chart a course for recovery and protection of this on the brink species, so that we might see their return to some former nesting sites right around the North Island.”

Read more about Black Petrel research and conservation, and follow the tracked birds here.

News from ‘Biz Bell’, Wildlife Management International.

John Cooper, Emeritus Information Officer, Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, 04 June 2026