Australasian gannet

오스트랄라시아 가넷

A large seabird with a wingspan of about 1.7 m that spots fish from high above and plunge-dives straight in. Air sacs in its face and chest cushion the impact. It nests in dense colonies on rocky islands and cliffs around New Zealand and Australia.

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At a glance

Class: Birds
Diet: Fish eater
Weight: about 2.3 kg
Length: about 0.88 m
Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN LC)
Habitat: coasts

Quick answers

Where does the Australasian gannet live?

It lives in coasts of the Pacific and Indian oceans.

How big is the Australasian gannet?

It grows to about 0.88 m and 2.3 kg.

What does the Australasian gannet eat?

Its diet: fish eater.

Is the Australasian gannet endangered?

It is listed as Least Concern (IUCN LC).

The Australasian gannet, also called the tākapu in New Zealand, is a large seabird that lives around New Zealand and southern and eastern Australia. Adults are mostly white with black wingtips and tail centre, a buff-yellow tinge on the head, and a pearly grey bill. Their eyes have blue rims.

It is famous for spectacular dives. A gannet spots shoals of fish from the air and plunges into the sea at high speed to catch them. It nests in dense colonies, mostly on offshore islands but also on a few mainland cliffs. The species is doing well, and the IUCN rates it Least Concern.

How does it hunt?

The gannet is a plunge diver. It eats mainly squid and small schooling fish that stay near the surface. It hunts from the air: the bird spots a school, folds its wings and hits the water at high speed. Our card explains that air sacs in its face and chest cushion the shock of the impact. Gannets also gather in groups, so when fish appear, many birds dive one after another.

Nests and chicks

Nesting takes place in colonies along the coasts of New Zealand, Victoria and Tasmania. The birds are very territorial and use displays to defend their nest, while pairs also use greeting and courtship displays. The nest is a cup-shaped mound of seaweed, earth and other debris, built by the female from material that the male mostly collects. She lays one pale blue egg each year. The chick hatches featherless, soon grows white down and is fed fish by its parents. It grows so fast that it outweighs an average adult by the time it leaves the nest. Young birds take about five years to look fully adult.

Fun facts

One of its rare mainland breeding colonies is on the cliffs at Muriwai, near Auckland, New Zealand.
A single chick can outweigh an average adult by the time it fledges.
Sir Joseph Banks shot three gannets in 1769, and the sailors ate them in a pie for Christmas.
It takes about five years for a young gannet to get its full adult plumage.