Text extracted from Gill B.J.; Bell, B.D.; Chambers, G.K.; Medway, D.G.; Palma, R.L.; Scofield, R.P.; Tennyson, A.J.D.; Worthy, T.H. 2010. Checklist of the of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, . 4th edition. Wellington, Te Papa Press and Ornithological Society of New Zealand. Pages 64 & 77.

Order : , Petrels, Prions and Shearwaters Checklist Committee (1990) recognised three families within the Procellariiformes, however, four families are recognised here, with the reinstatement of Pelecanoididae, following many other recent authorities (e.g. Marchant & Higgins 1990, del Hoyo et al. 1992, Viot et al. 1993, Warham 1996: 484, Nunn & Stanley 1998, Dickinson 2003, Brooke 2004, Onley & Scofield 2007). The relationships of the families within the Procellariiformes are debated (e.g. Sibley & Alquist 1990, Christidis & Boles 1994, Nunn & Stanley 1998, Livezey & Zusi 2001, Kennedy & Page 2002, Rheindt & Austin 2005), so a traditional arrangement (Jouanin & Mougin 1979, Marchant & Higgins 1990, Warham 1990, del Hoyo et al. 1992, Warham 1996: 505, Dickinson 2003, Brooke 2004) has been adopted. The taxonomic recommendations (based on molecular analysis) on the Procellariiformes of Penhallurick & Wink (2004) have been heavily criticised (Rheindt & Austin 2005) and have seldom been followed here.

Family DIOMEDEIDAE G.R. Gray: Albatrosses Diomedeidae G.R. Gray, 1840: List Gen. Birds (1st edition): 78 – Type Diomedea Linnaeus, 1758.

Albatross genera follow recommendations by Nunn et al. (1996) and Robertson & Nunn (1998), which have been adopted widely, e.g. Holdaway et al. (2001), Shirihai (2002), Dickinson (2003), Brooke (2004), Onley & Scofield (2007). The arrangement of used here follows the traditional order of Jouanin & Mougin (1979), except that the species within Thalassarche follow Robertson & Nunn (1998) to better reflect relationships. Common names used here mainly follow Tickell (2000).

Genus Phoebetria Reichenbach Phoebetria Reichenbach, 1853: Avium Syst. Nat.: 5 – Type species (by original designation) Diomedea fuliginosa Gmelin = Phoebetria palpebrata (J.R. Forster).

Phoebetria fusca (Hilsenberg) Sooty Diomedea fusca Hilsenberg, 1822: in Froriep’s Notiz. 3(5): 74 – Mozambique Channel, Africa. Phoebetria fusca campbelli Mathews, 1912: Birds 2: 304 – Australian seas. Phoebetria fusca fusca (Hilsenberg); Nichols & Murphy, 1914: Auk 31: 532. Phoebetria [palpebrata] fusca (Hilsenberg); Mathews 1934, Novit. Zool. 39(2): 158. Diomedea palpebrata fusca Hilsenberg; Clancey 1965, Ostrich 36: 51. Phoebetria fusca (Hilsenberg); Jouanin & Mougin 1979, in Peters, Check-list Birds World 1 (2nd edition): 57.

Breeds on subtropical and subantarctic islands in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans: Gough, , Prince Edward, Marion, Crozet, Kerguelen, Amsterdam and St Paul Islands; ranges at sea in these oceans between 30°S and antarctic waters and regularly reaches seas south of Australia (Marchant & Higgins 1990, Reid et al. 2002). Four confirmed records in the New Zealand region: Feb. 1991, north of the Auckland Islands; Nov. 1993, on the Pukaki Rise (Scofield 1994b, Medway 2000a); 1995, at the Antipodes Islands (Tennyson et al. 2002); and one on Macquarie Island (Onley & Scofield 2007). The record west of the North Island by C. Jowett (Tickell 2000: 117) is poorly documented and seems doubtful.