The Australian GannetMorus serratoris not restricted to Australia. Their breeding habitat is on islands off Victoria, Tasmania and New Zealand. They normally nest in large colonies on these coastal islands but in same cases the breed at mainland areas. These were photographed at the Australian Gannet colony at Muriwai Beach on the Tasman Sea Coast This was our first stop on the tour.
Photos 5501 show the pillars of stone in the ocean, close to land, that constituted parts of the colony. Photo 5355 shows the Gannets on top of one of the pillars. In addition to the pillars many of the Gannets were nesting on the land itself.
Gannet chicks are shown in 5509, 5513 and 5520. The last photos show Gannets in flight with the black primaries and secondary’s on the wings and black tail.
For videos of the Gannetts, see the Movies folder in the New Zealand web page..