Having recently been informed of the discussions regarding the Black
Petrel status in Australia, I have been asked to provide a statement regarding
the BARC requirement regarding this species. It is now generally recognised that Black Petrel is a very
rare visitor to NSW coastal waters between October and February and has in
recent years been reported annually in November from Wollongong and
Sydney. In fact between October
& December 2000 I recall up to 12 sightings that may have involved as many
as 10-12 separate individuals.
Black Petrel remains an extremely rare species in Australia and one that
is notoriously difficult to identify in the field. At the June 2001 BARC Annual General Meeting it was agreed
(but not unanimously) to keep Black Petrel on the list for review but only for
reports involving sightings away from the NSW coast. Sightings of Black Petrel from SE Queensland, Tasmania or
Victoria for example should still be put before the committee and ideally
should contain compelling evidence of how Westland and White-chinned Petrel was
eliminated.
For more information on BARC and its findings here is a link to our
website
http://users.bigpond.net.au/palliser/barc/barc-home.html
Regards
Tony.
