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Lesser Black-Backed Gull in NT 11 Lesser Black March ] van Tets: Lesser Black-backed Gull in N .T. 11 1977 Lesser Black-backed instead of Dominican Gull at Melville Bay, N.T. In the Australian Bird Watcher 6 ( 5): 162-164, Plates 29- 31, and 6 (7) : 238, Con Boeke! (1976) reports seeing and photographing on October 27, 1974, at Melville Bay, N.T., two adult Black-backed Gulls. In comparison with the Pacific Gull Larus pacificus, and on the basis of a white tail without a black bar, he and his wife identified the birds as Dominican Gulls L. dominicanus, a species not previously recorded along the north coast of Australia. The photographs indicate only a single prominent white sub­ terminal mirror on the wing tip. This is a diagnostic characteristic of the Scandinavian and nominate form of the Lesser Black­ backed Gull L. f. fuscus. The Greater Black-backed Gull L. marinus, and the Dominican Gull have additional white mirrors on the wing tip. Other species of gull with a black rather than a dark grey mantle, have a white tail with a black bar as in the Pacific Gull. P. J. Fullagar, J. L. McKean and I found that colour copies of the photographs taken at Melville Bay depict a Scan­ dinavian Black-backed Gull and not a Dominican Gull, on com­ parison with series of photographs of both species. The Scan­ dinavian Lesser Black-backed Gull is known to migrate as far south as South Africa, and is therefore not an unlikely bird to reach Australia, where it has not been previously recorded. In October adult Dominican Gulls should be at their breeding colonies, while Lesser Black-backed Gulls would then be migrat­ ing southwards. It is possible that the gulls at Melville Bay had been ship-assisted from the Middle East across the Indian Ocean to the north coast of Australia. By G. F. van Tats, C.S.l.R.O., Division of Wildlife Research, P.O. Box 84, Lyneham, A .C.T. 2602. White Terns recorded from eastern Australia. There are very fe w Australian records of the White Tern, Gygis alba (Sparr man). Fullagar ( in Slater, Field Guide to Australian Birdss Non-Pas­ serines, p.339, 1970), refers to only one record from eastern Australia. Vernon (Sunbird, 4: 1973), Green smith (Sunbird, 4:1973) and Griffin (Sunbird, 7:1976), give details of the three specimens and two sightings recorded from eastern coastal Aus­ tralia since the first in 1951. We now give details of two additional records. On April 21, 1974, at Mission Beach, south of Innisfail, Queensland, an incomplete skeleton was picked up behind the beach by Mr. C. M. Perrins .. It is now in the C.S.I.R.O. Division of Wildlife Research Collection, Canberra, registered number CHA S-86. On March 4, 1976, Mrs. Davidson, a resident at Taree, New South Wales, picked up in her garden a live, though very weak, White Tern. It died next day and was preserved as a study skin which is now in the Australian Museum, Sydney, registered num­ ber 0.45369. It was immature, almost certainly a female, and full details are as follows. 12 COOPER, et al: White Terns in E . Australia [ Bird Watcher Skull: not ossified Wing: 250 mm Exposed culmen: 34 mm Weight: 70.85 gms Tail: 120 mm Tarsus: 11 mm Soft parts colours: bill - black, no blue at base iris - very dark brown, almost black tongue - flesh pink, paler at tip inside of mouth - purplish pink legs- dark purplish blue, webs pale flesh claws- blackish with pale horn tips. The White Tern is a summer breeder on Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands. Fullagar, et al. (Appendix F. Environmental Sur­ vey of Lord Howe Island, 1974) point out that birds were first seen on Lord Howe Island in 1943, but the present breeding population probably comprises less than ten pairs and coloniza­ tion is being hindered by severe predation from Masked Owls. During summer the total population includes many non-breeding birds, but all terns are absent between June and October. Ac­ cording to Turner, et al. (Conservation of Norfolk Island, ACF Spec. Pubis, No. 1, 1968) numbers have declined on Norfolk Island, but the species is still common there. It is surprising that there have been so few records of the White Tern from eastern Australia, though, being a tropical sea­ bird, the proximity of birds to the eastern seaboard could depend on the position of offshore warm currents. From studies carried out at Christmas Island (Pacific Ocean) , Ashmole and Ashmole (Peabody Museum Bulletin 24, 1967), conclude that breeding White Terns feed within a few kilometres of the shore, while non­ breeding birds are able to utilize oceanic feeding grounds prob­ ably through their capacity to remain in the air for indefinite periods. This suggests that while nesting on Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands, terns remain close inshore, and there would be little likelihood of stragglers reaching the Australian coast; post­ breeding movements are probably north to tropical currents and away from eastern Australia. By William T . Cooper, Bungwahl, N.S. W., Joseph M. Forshaw, Canberra, A .C.T. and Peter .1. Fullager, Canberra, A.C.T. Corrigendum: In volume 6 (8), Australian Bird Watcher, Dec. 1976, Whinray, J. S., Some records for Logans Lagoon, Flinders Island, Tasmania, on p. 327, line 15; for "repons" read repens, the specific name of Mimulus repens Creeping Monkey-flower; and on p. 328, line 10, delete the word "were", 11th word in the line and not included in the manuscript - Editor. .
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